Submission is a word that provokes significant discomfort for me. When I first saw that this was one of our lifestyle celebrations, my first instinct was to reject it. I think that is because there is a problem with our definition of submission. My mind is filled with instances of justified injustice under the noble name of “submitting”. This has been distorted and misapplied to affirm abusive or harmful behaviors in various settings, including religious ones. Even though I have seen the warped perspective of submission in the world, I know God has a healthy image of submission. If the discomfort that was raised in me was potentially also raised in you, I invite us to use this discomfort to rediscover God’s image of submission together.
At Word Made Flesh, we celebrate submission to Jesus, each other, and those suffering from poverty. In a world that practices submission so falsely, I pray that we collectively can cultivate a better vision of submission. Hopefully, the reflections from Word Made Flesh staff around the world in this edition of the Cry can help us take steps to that end. How do we understand this word “submission”? What is God’s image of submission? How do we practice submission in a way that honors God’s true intention?
Submission does not comply with injustice. When someone does not have the power to say no, this cannot be an expression of God’s image of submission. This is very important for our understanding of submission because submission is often practiced by the world as an unconditional obedience to authority. This worldly definition has been used by people with power to rationalize their harm of the powerless. We have seen this exemplified on interpersonal, organizational, and national levels. In our Word Made Flesh communities, we work with populations vulnerable to domestic abuse, sexual exploitation, and gender violence that are all perpetuated by this false understanding of submission.
One healthy expression of submission is the relocation of staff members that serve in Word Made Flesh communities. An important part of being in community with those in poverty is being proximate. Our community centers are purposefully located in marginalized neighborhoods to be accessible to those we serve. This means that those serving within a Word Made Flesh community will often relocate to be close to the people they are serving. True community with those experiencing poverty involves this downward mobility and sharing life among our neighbors.
This downward mobility is an expression of submission. This relocation involves being proximate to these hard places which is a submission of our preferences, comfortability, and many luxuries of the previous lifestyle before entering this work. Generational poverty and lack of economic mobility for the families we serve is an expression of injustice and should not be mistaken as submission. Their inability to change their living situation is not the same as giving up preferences for the sake of living closer to these communities.
I use this image to help us understand how we cannot generalize practices of submission for all people because it will lead us to confusing submission for something that allows vulnerable people to be put at larger risk. Submission is a tool of privilege because it comes from the freedom of choice. Those who are vulnerable are not given the choice to endure this experience. Their compliance to the systems in place is not submission because it is not a choice.
God gives us the freedom to choose to follow Him, live like Him, and love like Him. Healthy submission is best understood in the context of our willingness. We are not forced into submission or obedience, but invited. We are invited to willingly surrender ourselves as an act of love. We can only practice submission when we are free to choose it. As you explore these stories from our global community, I hope you find inspiration in their words and contemplate the invitation from God to lovingly and willingly join the celebration of submission.
– Emily Fales, editor of The Cry for Submission 2024