Intimidation
by Noah Taylor
This was a response to a letter that was sent to us. There was a lot more description in the question concerning the person demanding submission. Those details are not pertinent. We are including this letter because of the teaching given in the response.
Question: Should I submit for the reason of intimidation?
Answer: First of all in reading the recent letters addressed to you a few things became clear. The man who wrote those letters—if they reflect his heart—does not have the first idea who God is.
In fact, it is just that kind of misrepresentation of our Father’s nature that Christ came to undo. For all his biblical rhetoric, this man still sounds like the men who caught the woman in adultery. They were trying to trap the Christ in some infraction of the law.
How dare he use authority that the Lord never used: “I am your superior; you need to obey! I am your leader; you must submit!” When did the Lord ever use these tools to create obedience in us? When did he ever say, “I am Messiah; you must listen”? Rather, He created obedience by patient, self-sacrificing love and allowing the truth to slowly take root in their minds as they watched His good example and love for them.
There are many religious groups that use the same tools and have destroyed many a seeker by a lot of condemnation and bible-bruising.
Secondly, my advice to you would be: don’t honor such a fool with your attention.
Long ago there was a woman who had a husband like that, and despite his wishes she obeyed her heart and did what she knew to be God’s heart. The end of that story is God made her a queen in Israel and killed her husband (see 1 Samuel 25:2-42).
You might say that is the old covenant, but what of Sapphira and Ananias? The cost of her supposed “submission” was the young men that carried out her dead husband carried out her as well.
You are under no bondage to submit to such unmitigated arrogance.
Posted on Apr 9, 08:30 PM | Categorized under Articles—
