We aren’t comfortable with the idea of submission. Our society champions equality, and rightly so — but it’s a mistake to think that submission is at odds with equality. To submit ourselves fully, we must first be free. We must first be our own masters. God has granted us that freedom with the salvation He offers. We are no longer the slaves of sin. Now He asks us to be subordinate to one another, in the name of Christ.

What a completely uncomfortable task! What He’s asking is for us to be subordinate to the person who irritates us the most. The person we really can’t stand. The person who doesn’t respect us or appreciate what we have to offer. The person we think we’re smarter than, more talented than. The person we envy. 

That’s the real challenge of stewardship, isn’t it? Subordination. Inconveniencing myself by giving of time, of money, of relationship. Putting the needs or wants of another above my own when they haven’t done anything special to earn it.

I invite you to consider the cross — the most radical expression of submission, and of stewardship, that ever existed. If there was ever someone who deserved superiority, isn’t it the God who let Himself be nailed to a tree, who gave so freely of His life, His body, His blood, His everything? 

To look at him in his agony is to truly understand the beauty of submission — of laying down what you have for the good of the other.