Submission Of The Bride…
But let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.
James 1:19-24
Yesterday Mosaic had the opportunity to play at an awesome smaller church in Louisville Kentucky called Grace Crossing Church. We loved getting to know the leadership of the church there and I personally was very encouraged both by the fellowship and the sermon.
Jeremy, the pastor, preached on the passage above in James and though I’ve read and heard this passage many times, I have never looked at it in the way in which Jeremy presented it. Most of the time we look at verses 19&20 as being passages that concern our relationships, but in context it seems that this passage is really speaking on our relationship with God and His Word.
James is exhorting us to be slow to speak and quick to hear what God is saying to us through His Word. But more startling is the fact that James then quickly says to be slow to anger…and then James goes on to talk about the Word of God acting like a mirror in which we see our own reflection.
It struck me as true that when we are exposed to the truth about ourselves, whether it be in the Word or through our relationships with others, we often times can get angry because of our pride. We get angry with the mirror, when really the problem is with us and we just don’t like the reflection.
The Holy Spirt was confirming this in my heart as I thought about the resistance in my own heart and the resistance I have seen in the hearts of others in my life to the mirror reflecting truth of God’s Word.
The passage in James continues on about being doers of the Word and not merely hearers…and that by being doers we prove that we are not merely deluding ourselves…the Holy Spirit led my thoughts to a passage in Ephesians 5:
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the Church, is body, and is Himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also should wives submit in everything to their husbands.
Ephesians 5:22-24
Marriage is awesome mainly because it reflects the relationship of Christ with the Church. As newlyweds, Emily and I have learned a lot about our God given roles of headship and submission. Christ’s leadership is servant leadership as should be mine as I strive to give up everything for Emily as Christ gave up everything for the Church. In return, wives sacrifice their own will in submission to the husbands because they believe and trust the husband is a good leader that has and is striving to give up everything for them. That’s how it’s supposed to work anyway.
When I flip that back around and apply the principle of submission to the Church, to the people who are Christ followers, what James is saying seems connect with the principle of submission. If we are Christ’s Bride, then we will have a spirit of submission to His Word and will. His Spirit will continue to work out the pride induced resistance and anger that forms in us as we see and hear the Truth. We will be broken and healed by it, rather than angered, as we sacrificially submit even when we don’t understand or simply don’t want to.
Be doers of His Word and not merely those that hear. In doing so, you show that you are His Bride. Jesus says in John 15 that if you love Him you do what He commands. This would sound dictatorial if Jesus hadn’t already given up everything in order to rescue and save you…but He has given everything up for you and He has given everything to you. He is a good leader with your best in mind.
Be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.
