What Does it Mean to Submit to Authority?

In their final conversation about authority, Rachael Clinton Chen and Dr. Dan Allender return to complex waters to discuss mutual submission, what good authority looks like, and what it means for us to submit to those in authority.

Oftentimes words like submission are difficult to hear because they have been misused by those in positions of authority. So, how do we reclaim similar words and phrases, especially those found in scripture, that have been so often used to create chaos?

“The real call of submission is I must honor and delight in you because of who you are and who you are meant to be, and equally you are to honor and delight in me. But that doesn’t remove conflict, it opens up the possibility that conflict can create goodness in what we can create together.” Dr. Dan Allender

“Mutual submission is a different language of what it means to love, to respect, honor […] to love my neighbor as I love myself. It’s a relational movement towards another.” Rachael Clinton Chen

“Can you bless them? Do you see good in them? Not that we’re unwilling to see our own brokenness, but do we want good for the other and do we see how uniquely we can bring good to the other?” Dr. Dan Allender

Resources

If you are interested in learning more about the topics mentioned in this podcast:

  • Listen to the first two episodes in this series on Authority
  • Remembering the context of Dan and Rachael’s conversation, read Romans 13