1 Peter 5:5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
There is one word that has certainly gotten a bad rap in English, and that word is “submit.” We claim to be, and pride ourselves on being, independent people, able to make our own decisions, a world unto ourselves. We have “self-made men,” after all.
And the word “submit” in Christian circles received a bad rap when men misused it in the passages that talk about women submitting to their husbands. These people frequently forget the verses that say we should submit to one another. They certainly don’t want to be included in this submission thing, especially if they have to submit to their wives!
But the reality is that we submit every day! We don’t go 100 miles and hour in a school zone. We submit to the speed laws, at least when police are present!
We show up for work at the time we are supposed to show up. This of course changed when COVID hit and we worked remotely. For some, work became a part time gig, but continued to receive full time pay. This new flexibility has led many to reconsider work, that and the government subsidies that keep flowing.
There are many choices that we don’t make in life; they are made for us. And if we don’t rebel against those choices, we are submitting to them. Submission isn’t a bad thing after all. We can’t spend our life fighting against every choice that is made for us and against what we want.
Our text follows a short section talking about the prescribed roles of church leaders, specifically pastors. The author appeals to them for conformity in their calling. They are to lead within certain parameters of behavior; they are to lead from a stance of holiness.
And then our text applies that submission to authority to younger people, specifically younger leaders. Younger people are to submit to their elders, those older and wiser than themselves. And this is where the rub happens.
So often young leaders think they know the best way to lead. This confidence in leadership methods by the young is called inexperience! The young are often unable or unwilling to see the second, third and fourth order affects of decisions. They are so focused on the right here and now, that they don’t think through the consequences of their choices over time.
Just like compound interest has a predictable pattern, so our choices have a predictable pattern. And when we don’t consider that pattern of outcome to our current choices, we miss the orders of affect that will come. And then we are surprised when those predictable affects happen.
Thus the writer appeals to younger people to submit to their elders. And this takes humility! And humility often takes failing repeatedly to learn, something church leaders can’t afford to do. That is why we must choose humility.
Humility is admitting that we don’t know everything, or even all we need to make the decisions that are before us. Humility admits there are others with knowledge that could help us, if we will but ask. Humility will save us from innumerable negative consequences.
But that requires us to submit to our elders, to consult with them, asking them for advice and help. But submitting to our elders, we are submitting to God. We are allowing someone else to guide our ship though life, admitting we are limited in our choices and our view beyond the horizon.
But God….
The Arnold Journey 