But just as most important truths are grounded in paradox - I've been realizing recently the other side of this story. It all began with reading childhood classics, C.S. Lewis' Narnia stories. In one segment of the Lion, witch and the wardrobe, he notes that Aslan was accompanied by many creatures, one holding his crown and the other his standard. I was thinking, eek! would I want to do that? To have a role prescribed as "armour-bearer" or "flag lifter"? Then I caught myself: would I be unwilling to do menial tasks for the king?
So the other side of the story that hit me was this: I am not used to submitting. I am not used to the idea of service. I am not trained to recognize at a deep, fundamental this-is-how-i-do-life way that just as I have been given authority, I was also placed under authority. If I was, prayer time would be very different. I would be asking in every situation- how can I serve those around me? How can I be the best employee to my boss? How can I bless my pastor and cell group leader? How can I be of help to my colleagues? How do I bless my parents?
Very often, submission within the Asian culture is taken as suck it up and keep quiet. (And secretly complain to fellow friends/colleagues/inside your head) But maybe submission is not such a bad word.
Jesus said, "you are my friends if you do what I command." The psalmist noted, "The secret counsel (friendship) of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He reveals his covenant to them." Nowhere is it promised that friendship with God exists on level terms- and why should it when we are talking about the supreme being who is not circumscribed by laws of time and space but instead created those laws?
Submission, then, is obedience. It is humility without self-grovelling. It is also stewardship- recognizing that any influence I have comes from a higher source. This is how authority works: through a chain of command where instructions are passed down through persons of different weight. Perhaps the centurion's faith came from this recognition: "I too have people under me, I say go and he goes. Come and he comes. Therefore, just say the word. And my servant will be healed."
It is the power to become a servant- a slave, even, without despising oneself. Because of a deeper conviction that royalty does not mean I am above you. It is a selfhood that is not defined by relative terms but in absolutes. Competitiveness, striving is redundant because there is no game. There is no "one up" to get over another. Help me to remember, Father, that I am your child. In that absolute relation, I find my peace and my(self).
