In our journey through the spiritual disciplines, we have arrived at a profound intersection of submission and service. These are not disciplines to be practiced in isolation, but rather in the context of community, where we prepare our hearts in solitude to then engage with others in a spirit of humility and servanthood.
The essence of the Christian life is found not in the pursuit of personal desires or the climb up the ladder of success, but in the lowly places of service and the humility of submission. This is the upside-down reality of the Kingdom of God, where to gain oneself, one must lose oneself; to be exalted, one must be humble; to be rich, one must embrace poverty; to be strong, one must accept weakness.
The call to have the same mind as Christ is a call to a radical transformation of our values and perspectives. Jesus, though divine, did not cling to His status but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a servant, fully human, to meet us in our condition. This self-emptying is not the way of the world, where leadership often seeks power and dominance. Yet, it is the way of Christ and, therefore, our way as well.
The biblical teaching of submission is not about establishing a social hierarchy but about the spirit with which we view and treat others. It is a discipline that must be approached with caution due to its potential for abuse. However, when practiced correctly, it leads to true freedom, not the freedom to do whatever we want, but the freedom found in power over our passions and desires.
As we consider the practical outworking of these disciplines, we must remember that they are means to an end—the end being a greater freedom in Christ. Our obsession with having things go our way is a bondage from which we must be freed. The disciplines of submission and service are pathways to this freedom, unlocking a deeper ability to love others and experience God's love.
In our community, we have modeled this mutual submission in leadership, rejecting the notion that one must dominate over the other. This mirrors the mutual submission within the Trinity, where each Person of the Godhead submits to the others in a divine dance of humility and love.
Let us, therefore, embrace these disciplines, not as burdens, but as opportunities to experience the joy and freedom that come from living in the way of Christ.
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