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“The Full Rights Of Sons” Simply Put / 
K.E.Stegall
 
Chapter IV
-
Servanthood: “...serve one another in love.”
 
24
 
 
Servanthood:
“...serve one another in love.”
 
(Galatians 5:13)
Authority!When it comes to a discussion of the issue of women in the church I hear this word all thetime. It seems to be central to the question of what exactly is the role of women.Authority?What does the Bible say about authority? I thought I should find out for myself. What Ifound is the Biblical authority principle. Here it is. There is no biblical authority principle. Or letme state it as a paradoxical axiom. The biblical authority principle is servanthood.Servanthood is what separates a Christian woman from the secular feminist. In fact this
absolute and universal principle of Christ‟s
Kingdom is what separates all Christians, men orwomen, from all other people.Servanthood is the reason godly Christian women have nothing to do with abortion. Wegive thanks that God has allowed us women to mirror so clearly his injunction to present our
 bodies as “living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God”
- which is our spiritual act of worship
(Romans 12:1). The feminists are right in saying that a woman gives up her body to another‟s use
when she becomes pregnant. But for the Christian it is a privilege to be able to see the principle of servanthood so vividly portrayed through our physical bodies - as living sacrifices.Jesus has been called the suffering servant. No title could sound less authoritative. Yet hehas all authority. What did he teach about authority?You remember the story of the ultimate stage mother. the mother of James and John. Sheasked Jesus if her sons could have the highest positions next to Jesus when he brought in hiskingdom.Of course she was not only talking about position and status, but also authority. This ishow Jesus understood her request. After telling her that these positions were not his to give away
he immediately began to talk about authority. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it
over them, and their
high officials exercise authority over them,... “(Matthew 20:20
-28). He goeson to say that this idea of authority belongs completely to the world.Sociologists tell us that even in the most loosely organized groups there is always anauthority structure. Whether the people are young or old, primitive or highly sophisticated. thereis a pecking order. There is always a scramble to see who can be in authority, give the orders,direct the action, lord it over the others. This may not always be done openly and obviously as inthe military. In fact, it is usually done through more subtle means. I certainly see this worldly
 principle of authority at work among my junior high students. I‟m sure you have seen it at work 
within groups you are familiar with too.The
truth of Christ‟s Kingdom is exactly the opposite of how the world thinks thingsshould be. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officialsexercise authority over them. Not so with you.” It is so foreign to our way o
f thinking that it iseven difficult for us believers to accept. Exercising authority is not the way things are doneamong his followers, nor a guiding principle for the church.
There is a guiding principle for the believers, “Not so with you. Instead,...”
here it comes,
“whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first
must be your slave -
...“ It would be difficult to create a directive more at odds with the world‟sview. In Christ‟s kingdom authority is not to be
exercised, servanthood is to be exercised.Servanthood is the self-denial required of all who follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24: Luke 9:23).Servanthood is the primary directive for how believers are to relate to one another. When
 
“The Full Rights Of Sons” Simply Put / 
K.E.Stegall
 
Chapter IV
-
Servanthood: “...serve one another in love.”
 
 Jesus gave the golden rule in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:12), he said it was a summaryof the Law and the prophets. Servanthood is the second greatest commandment (Matthew 22:39).Servanthood is the primary directive because it is a reflection of our primary director,Jesus
himself (Matthew 11:29). Servanthood is an outgrowth of God‟s own character. Everythingin Christ‟s kingdom is to be done the way Christ does things. The aim of all the parts or members
of the church is to become like Jesus (Ephesians 4:22-24, 5:1-2).
“You
know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officialsexercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great amongyou must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of 
Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew
20:25-28)
The Question:
What does Christ teach us about the exercise of authority?
What do we know to be true?
The authority principle of the world is exercising authority and lording it over others.(Matthew 20:25; Luke 22:25-26; Genesis 3:16; Romans 1:29-30)Exercising authority is not the way believers are to relate to one another.(Matthew 20:26; Romans 12:16; 1 Corinthians
13:4-5;
Philippians 2:3; I Peter
5:2-3)
The way believers are to relate to one another is the oppositeof the worldly authority principle. (Matthew 20:26; Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 12:2; ICorinthians 4:19; Ephesians 4:22-24; I John 2:15-17)Servanthood is the biblical authority principle for the church. (Matthew 20:26-27, 22:38-40, 7:12.
18:1-5;
Romans 12:9-10, 13:8-10; Galatians
5:13;
Philippians
2:1-5;
Ephesians 5:1,2,21; Colossians 3:12-14)
The servanthood principle is derived from Christ‟s example, person, and
character.(Matthew 20:28, 11:29; Ephesians
5:1-2;
Philippians 2:5-7; I Peter 2:21-24; I John3:16)
Servanthood is the prime directive for relating to each other in Christ‟s church, because
we are to be like him. (Matthew 20:28; Ephesians 4:22-24,5:1-2; Philippians 2:2-5)
 
“The Full Rights Of Sons” Simply Put / 
K.E.Stegall
 
Chapter IV
-
Servanthood: “...serve one another in love.”
 
27
 
 This worldly concept of authority, that someone must always be on top telling others whatto do, must be what leads us to assume that when the Bible talks about submission, it naturallygoes hand in hand with the exercise of authority. Contrary-wise, when the Bible talks aboutsubmission. or directs someone to submit, it is an expansion on the particulars of the Servanthoodprinciple.
When we read the word “submit” in the Bible it often registers as “to be in a God
ordained s
ubordinate position.” or “to be under the authority of.” With this assumption in mind
no need is seen to define a word according to its normal ordinary usage.
The words “submit” and “subordinate” are not the same word. They are not synonymous.
Submit means a voluntary yielding of oneself to another. It may or may not be to someone inauthority over you. Submission is an attitude of heart, not lines on an authority flow-chart. Theword subordinate indicates a position under the authority of a superior. Subordinate does notmean one who is submissive. Submit defines an action. Subordinate defines a position. Submit
comes from within. Subordinate is imposed from without. One says, “I will serve you.” The other says. “You must do as I tell you.”
 Submit and subordinate may occur together. The patriot soldier freely gives himself tofight for his country. At the same time he is subordinate to the authority structures of that countryand its army.But submit and subordinate do not necessarily go together. There is the example of Sadie,our dog. We have a beautiful pure-bred Dalmatian. She has given us a lot of pleasure. especiallyas the mother of eleven wonderful Dalmatian puppies. Everyone in the family knows that Sadie isdefinitely subordinate to all the rest of 
us. But Sadie doesn‟t know this because subordinate or 
not, she is not submissive. Any of you who have a dog, or more especially, a cat, may knowexactly what I mean.Most of us can probably think of a circumstance when someone has been submissive, butnot subordinate. It happens all the time in everyday life. Equals submit to equals. Someone
simply gives in. yields their will to someone else‟s. There can be lots of reasons for being
submissive and being subordinate is only one of them.A similar false assumption is often made when we discuss equality for women. We may jump to the conclusion that if there is equality there can be no submission. It is true that thesecular feminist, operating on the worldly authority principle, is often looking for a way to lord itover others instead of being lorded over. But the believer must have a commitment toservanthood. We must serve because Christ came to serve. I believe in submission. I believewomen should submit. I believe men should submit. This is what the Bible teaches. Equality doesnot exclude submission. Equality makes submission the responsibility of every believer (I Peter
5:5
KJV).Jesus is the prime example of one who was submissive, even though not subordinate(John 10:17-18; Luke
2:51;
Philippians 2:6-7). The Biblical word
“
submit
”
is most oftenultimately linked to the example of Jesus, and his divine character.
One example of how we incorrectly assume that the word „submit‟ goes with an authoritystructure is in the very familiar Ephesians‟ passage whic
h talks about the relationship betweenhusbands and wives (Ephesians
5:22-33).
This section is introduced by two restatements of the
Servanthood principle which are directed to all believers. “Be imitators of God, therefore, as
dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a
fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians
5:1-2)
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:2 1)
 Then comes the particular that wives are to submit to their husbands in the same way thatthe church submits to Christ. The church submits to Christ in humility (James 4:6- 12). Jesusmade plain his definition of subm
ission, “If anyone would come af 
ter me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
” (Mark 8:34) The essence of our submission to Jesus is our 
own death to ourselves so that we can live to God.
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