"Submit!" (adult worship service) Morgan Young 1.27.02
Tonight I'd like to teach on the longest passage in Gathering history! Relax this isn't going to be teach-a-thon!
I'm going to read the whole passage because there are some confusing things in it and I didn't want you to go back later & read the whole context and end up more confused.
Now don't get overwhelmed when I read this --- it's long and there's a lot of stuff in here --- we could probably do 2-3 messages on this text but I'm only going to teach on 1 thing tonight. Enough disclaimers--- ready?
I Corinthians 11:3-16 nlt
"But there is one thing I want you to know: A man is responsible to Christ, a woman is responsible to her husband, and Christ is responsible to God. A man dishonors Christ if he covers his head while praying or prophesying. But a woman dishonors her husband if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head. Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair. And since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, then she should wear a covering. A man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping, for man is God's glory, made in God's own image, but woman is the glory of man. For the first man didn't come from woman, but the first woman came from the man. And man was not made for woman's benefit, but woman was made for man. So a woman should wear a covering on her head as a sign of authority because the angels are watching.
But in relationship among the Lord's people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women. For although the first woman came from man, all men have been born from women ever since, and everything comes from God.
What do you think about this? Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head? Isn't it obvious that it's disgraceful for a man to have long hair? And isn't it obvious that long hair is a woman's pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering. But if anyone wants to argue about this, all I can say is that we have no other custom than this, and all the churches of God feel the same way about it."
First of all, Paul wrote this about public worship, but it's not just about how we should be in church. Because how we are in church should be NO different than how we are OUTSIDE of church. Right?
Is this passage about hair styles? Does this lay out the Biblical guidelines for "Holy hair?" NO.
But let's look at the hair thing for a minute, not because this where we're going to hang out tonight, but so we won't be side-tracked by it.
One of the reason that Paul played the hair card and talked about head coverings, was because of what the culture was like in Corinth --- At that time, if a woman went out in public without something on her head, it was a sign of loose morals --- sexual promiscuity
Also, women with short hair in Corinth were typically prostitutes. At that same time, if a man in Corinth had long hair, it was a sign of male prostitution in the pagan temples.
So simply, Paul was making the statement that you and I as Christ followers should appear and behave in a way that is acceptable in our culture
Do we have to all dress a certain "Christian" way? No. But if Mark Malin goes to the Markland Mall in a lime green leisure suit, with a super-wide-brimmed bright yellow hat topped off with an orange peacock feather and sporting neon 3-inch healed shoes, with 31 gold chains around his neck, is that a problem???
In a nutshell--- if what we wear or how we do our hair keeps you & me from being credible in the community, then we have a problem. OKenough about hair for tonight.///
Alrightso this passage is not just about worship. It's not just about hair. What it IS it about then?
The main theme of this passage is about submission and authority it lays out a general theme of Christianity that needs to be woven through ALL of our lives.
God laid out lines of authority to all of us, because God is a God of order --- Submitting to authority is one of the major ways we prevent chaos in our lives.
Right now, think of your job, your family and think of the government (think of those PLACES)---- if there were no authority in any of those situations--- in other words, if there were no structures or no levels (gesture) with people in charge ---- it would be a total messor at least a worse mess than it is now ;-)
Everybody here can agree with that concept --- that without authority in our house, our place of employment, and in government, somehow this koo-koo world would be in even worse shape.
It illustrates this basic truth about humans --- and that is, if there are more than a couple of us togethersomeone needs to have the authority to make calls --- otherwise, all we would ever do is vote on things --- and then you know what we'd have? One big real life "Survivor" TV show. Instead of "Survivor Africa" it would be "Survivor Earth."
So even if we don't like authority, we have to admit that humans cannot function without it.
And since God designed us, He's pretty clear on how we operate and what we need, so He laid out this little authority deal in verse 3:
"But there is one thing I want you to know: A man is responsible to Christ, a woman is responsible to her husband, and Christ is responsible to God."
God kicks out a flow chart with Himself at the top, then Christ, man and then woman.
Now before anybody gets too excited here because they're not close enough to the top we need to understand a key piece of God's flow chart ---- and that is this: Among humans, authority is not superiority (repeat).
Let me explain that --- Jesus is under God the Father's authority. Is Jesus any LESS God?? Not a trick question"No." Jesus is part of the Trinity, but no LESS God.
And too, let's look at marriage for a second. This verse says man is in authority over his wife. Does that mean she is any LESS important than the man ---is man "superior" to women?
No! Like this verse 11-12 says:
"women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women. For although the first woman came from man, all men have been born from women ever since, and everything comes from God."
But I really like the way The Message says it even better:
"Don't, by the way, read too much into the difference here between men and women. Neither man nor woman can go it alone or claim prioritythe first woman came from man, true --- but ever since then, every man comes from a woman! And since virtually everything comes from God anyway, let's quit going through these 'who's first' routines."
And also in the church --- I am under Mark Malin's authority at Oakbrook. Does he have more value in God's eyes than me? No. We both have equal value but Mark has the responsibility of authority.
So, authority is not superiority. It's easy to SAY that, but I don't believe that's a concept we really grasp 100%
At work and at church and maybe even at home we know what the flow chart looks like we know where we are on it --- we know where our place is --- we know how much authority we have and we always know who has more authority than we do.
The Biblical principle we have to grasp is that WHERE we are in relation to people in authority is not WHO we are. (repeat)
If we're not careful, we'll see people in authority as people who are superior to us ---- and that's just NOT so
Just like Christ is under God the Father's authority, He is no LESS God. Likewise, no matter where you fit in at work, home, or the church you are NO LESS than any person in authority (repeat)
God created ALL people in His image and all have equal value
So you may not be the "top dog" person in authority in all areas of your life but you have no LESS value than people in authority. Authority is God's plan to make homes, churches and governments run smoothly --- authority is NOT God's plan to make anyone appear more valuable than anyone else
Sometimes I wonder if you and me ever got over our educational system We see ourselves compared to others and maybe we're not as "high up" or as far along as someone else is and in our mind, we kind of give ourselves a letter grade
"(tier system) Hmmm, if he's hereat the top of this organizationtop in authority he must be an "A" and since I'm down here I must be a "B+"or a "C" gee I may be a "D-"
But God gives us all equal value --- we all get A's. If you're in a position of authorityyou get an "A." You have 5 layers of authority over you you get an "A." So authority is not superiority. ///
But I have to admit authority doesn't have a pleasing connotation to it. Who says, "I'd like extra authority over me, please!" What did John Mellencamp say? "I fight authority"
The thing you and I don't like about authority is that it always requires submitting.
What are other words for "submit"? "Give in" "Surrender" "Comply""Go along with." Iiiiich!!! Disgusting!
The truth is often when we submit, we feel weak. When we "give in" and "go along with" we feel like we caved in --- What is it we always say when we give in, "Fine have it YOUR way!" (attractive pic of submitting).
It's easy to sit here in a church service full of Christ followers and nod our heads agreeing to the Biblical idea that God has put authorities over all of us but I bet it's not that easy in reality (repeat)
Let's talk about marriage for a minute.
I know and you know there are times between you and your beautiful, intelligent and integrity-filled spouse when you don't see eye to eye (lady's "dumb guy voice" rant?)
Anyway --- to be "polite" --- there are times when we don't see eye to eye And the whole verbal exchange is going this way (horizontal -- elaborate)
(STAKE & HAMMER in hand) And what happens in these deals is we start digging-in to whatever our position is and it's like this (hits stake) etc..(GO!)
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And in this situation you're both firmly dug-in staked down here's the question "Who is going to submit?"(repeat- pause)
Perhaps you're a guy and right now you're thinking, "Simple --- It says right there, "women submit to your husbands" case closed!
Case NOT closed Man is supposed to submit to God's authority. I wonder when, (guys), you and I are digging-in across from our spouse
Are we dug-in on an issue that God wants us to be?
Are we only dug-in to our agenda?
Or are we dug-in out of respect for God and so this is how we're supposed to be leading right now?
Or are we dug into our ego --- because submitting to God might mean "giving in" to our wife on this one?
That same scenario goes for the ladies too. Men AND women both get stubborn and dug-in over petty stupid pride-driven stuff.
And here's tonight's big deal here's the "so what" about authority:
Until one or both people STOP going back and forth at each other until one person stops the rock 'em- sock'em robot thing until we stop going AT each other ---- and go UP Until we look UP and see what the Authority wants us to do in this little slug-fest we have chaos we have turmoil we have a life that ain't working.
'Cause the truth is when we're going at each other, it's very personal --- you're punching her buttons & she's goin' to town on yours BUT--- when we look UP and ask God's perspective on this deal we get just that God's perspective
And I don't know about you, but for me, over the years as God has helped me lead my family when I've been "dug-in" (stake) His perspective sounds like this:
"Morgan is this really THAT big a deal? Yo, brainiac is this really how you think I want you to be leading right now?Is this the picture you want to paint of a God-honoring husband?" (pause)
When I submit to God's authority in how I deal with Sandra, it has EVERYTHING (repeat) to do with the quality of our relationship!! When I submit to trying to do what God wants me to do in my family, it has everything to do with how caring I am how selfish I am how understanding I am Because when I submit to God I'm saying, regardless of how I WANT things to go I'm gonna work HIS plan for my family for my wifefor my kids When you and I don't submit to what God wants in our life we're just workin' our own plan! (pause)
And submitting to God doesn't always mean taking the easy way out of a confrontation with a spouseor a friend or a co-worker or someone in the church.
Many times, over the years, in my marriage to Sandra, the voice of Authority has sounded like this:
"Dude don't back away from this confrontation there's something more behind what you're talking about that's driving it stay committed to finding out what's driving this and then stay at it and work through it because if you don't get to the bottom of it it's just going to keep cycling back around, bigger and badder each time "
Men I want to talk straight with you guys right now ---- When God put us above our wife in the authority flow chart that comes with serious responsibility
Everybody in authority has great responsibility. And as husbands I'm going to ask you a straight up serious "let the Holy Spirit rock you if He needs to" question:
Are you leading by example and action what it is to be a man after God's heart in your house? (repeat) Are you submitting your role as father and husband to what God wants you to do? Are you seeking God in ALL things----are you looking to Him to know when to give your wife grace on some things
And a tougher question are you submitting to God's authority over you and leading you and your wife through discussions on difficult issues that you both know you have?
Guys, our local landscape is peppered with divorces that have grown out of issues that were never really dealt with Guys as men appointed to authority in our house by God --- we have a responsibility to submit our spouse, our kids and US to God's plan---then guys, we have to LEAD
Lead in compassionlead in understandinglead in love and sometimes, lead through the not-so-pretty deals that are lurking in the corners ----that you and your spouse are intentionally avoiding. (pause)
For every person here married, single, kid, adult --- for any and every deal in your life that's NOT working the solution ALWAYS STARTS by submitting to God's plan dropping our agenda & submitting to His. ///
I want to talk just for a minute about submitting to authority in the church. To me there's a real similarity between spousal relationships and how we fit into the church
After you start coming to a church for a while, you start taking ownership it comes to feel like your home the relationships become very comfortable and just like in a spousal relationship, things start to feel very personal
In a marriage and in a churchafter a while, it's hard for anything to happen without us taking it personally
Perhaps in church, you've had random thoughts that have gone like this:
"Huh they decided to that?! (confused face) I wouldn't have decided to thatI definitely wouldn't have done it that way! What are they thinking---that just seems ludicrous!"
You see, after a while, we can't help but have opinions and we should--- we should care about the church we call home it would be UN-natural not too
But if we're not careful if we don't address our opinions to the right people our opinions can slide into uninformed judgmental attitudes and friends, those are dangerous and divisive.
Hebrews says it very clearly, "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority." 13:17 niv
It doesn't say, "Don't ask why." It doesn't say, "Just mindlessly go along with whatever happens." But after we've asked the right people whyultimately all of us have to submit to the authority that God has put over us.
And let me say for the record, that it is never easy to submit to authority when our emotions are involved (repeat)
But in this verse from Hebrews and when God laid out the authority flow chart in 1 Corinthians 11:3, He put NO disclaimers --- there's no "Unless we don't feel like it" clause and it's hard to submit when our emotions are involved
Let me explain what I mean:
One of my roles here is on the Management Team that's Ronda Malin, Karl Stoneking, Mark Matthews, and myself working with Mark Malin as a decision making body for the church.
Let me give you just a little background info so you'll better understand this If I have a strong opinion about something, I am rarely if ever at a loss for words and If I feel strongly about it, I've been known to make my point with a decent amount of passion & horsepower
Mark Malin is one of my best friends and in many ways personally and publicly has been the most influential Godly person in my life
Likewise, in these meetings, if he feels strongly about something he's been known to make a point with a decent amount of passion and horsepower.
Now you might think that a church team meeting is a polite and stuffy experience --- let's just say that one of the best and worst things about the inner workings of Oakbrook is that we strive to be authentic--- which means honest & real which means real emotions
Over the past handful of months or sothere have been a couple important issues that came up that found Mark and I somewhat uncharacteristically on opposite sides of the table
Much like relationships in our home these were spirited at times there were times when he thought, "Morgan, how you can have that opinion!" And there were times when I thought, "Mark, how can you have that opinion!" In all honesty, I know we both left some of those meetings wondering how our personal relationship and this whole thing would come out of all this
Now the scary thing in this scenario is that both of us had prayed about it ---we'd sought God's direction in it --- and yet we still weren't together on these issues
I realized in the process of these deals, that my responsibility was to say clearly what I felt which I indeed did ;-) but that ultimately what is most importantmore important than how I feel, is that God is a God of order
That He put Mark Malin here to lead this church and to be in authority over me so if I really believed ALL of the gospel that teach every week --- I had to submit.
And I did that's' where I got to. And I haven't regretted it now, on this side of it it clearly was the right thing to do. Because I submitted we did get to the happy Scooby Doo ending.
The lesson in that real story is: If I didn't submit, our friendship and that team could have been seriously damaged. And it's more important to do what God says rather than what we feel. (repeat 1x).
Friends, churches and marriages & relationships are blown apart across this whole planet because we want to do what we feel, more than we want to submit to God and His authorities. (repeat)
Heaven help us as Christ followers if we blow up or mess up ONE more church ONE more marriage or ONE more relationship, because we're following our emotions more than we're following the authority God put over us!
If Christ's blood fits, you must submit!
Mellancamp said, "When I fight authority, authority always wins." The truth is when we fight authority, we always lose When we fight God and the authorities He's placed in our home and our churches we always lose
Because fighting authority is saying, NO, God --- I am submitting to MY agendanot Yours. ///(pause drink)
When we look at Jesus' last dayswe see a couple snapshots that we can and need to relate to tonight
Picture in your mind the last supper this is THE last time Jesus will eat and drink it should be a quiet time of reflection and realizing just what this moment in time is
But instead of a serene Holy moment Jesus announces that one of them will betray Him --- and the room erupts with questions, suspicions--- we can imagine that whatever was calm surely wasn't at that point
And out of that, somehow the disciples got to a point where they were arguing about which one of them would be the greatest --- can you really imagine this?
It goes from "One of you will betray me" to "Which one of us will be the greatest?"
It's like the disciples did what we do --- (horizontal gesture) they were going after each other ---- "do you think it's me?do you think I'm the best?" they were most concerned about themabout their feelingstheir agenda
They had lost sight about this (UP gesture) They were starting to work their plan instead of submitting to God's 2000 years later , you & me still lose sight of His authority, sometimes
Then Jesus interviened got back in the middle of it got them back on the right track reminded them of God's plan of submitting to each other.
Another picture we need is Christ's ultimate submission
In Gethsemane before Judas arrived He Prayed, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me, yet I want Your will, not mine." Matthew 26:39 nlt
He said, "If there's another way, then WAY cool --- but I'll submit to Your call."
And so, Jesus' ultimate submission made REAL LIFE available for you and me Because Jesus submitted you and I have eternal life
(stake) Tonight we need to remember that because He took this (stake in hand) the only thing you and I should be dug-in (hammer in hand) to is Him and the authorities He put over us.
If we'll be dug-in to submitting to Him ---- we'll find ourselves mysteriously closer to Him
In these next moments please take the bread that symbolizes His body and the cup that symbolizes His blood, on your own.
As you do this in remembrance of Him remember the authority He has in your life
If there are things that you need to surrender if you need move some things from your own authority to His --- then make that commitment to Him
Now, take these on your own Micah will play, and in a short time, He will call you into this song.
(pray) "Lord, lead each one of us now let Your Holy Spirit run loose among our hearts helps to be open to how You would lead us" Amen
