Submission...?

This morning I opened up my Bible to Paul's letter to the Ephesians and started reading in the fifth chapter. These verses grabbed my attention and required additional study:

Ephesians 5:21-22 NIV
[21] "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. [22] Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord."

The Greek word translated submit (hupotasso), means so much more than that - here is the definition: Hupotasso

Definition
1. to arrange under, to subordinate
2. to subject, put in subjection
3. to subject one's self, obey
4. to submit to one's control
5. to yield to one's admonition or advice
6. to obey, be subject

A Greek military term meaning "to arrange [troop divisions] in a military fashion under the command of a leader".
In non-military use, it was "a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden".

In other words, Paul is talking about a learning to work together, cooperating and giving up our own wants for the greater good of the Body of Christ. This is often times read with the military mindset, but in the Body of Christ this wouldn't be accurate.

The second verse, while it appears to say similar things about husbands and wives, uses a completely different Greek expression, and no where does Paul use 'hupotasso'. He simply says the wife should relate to her husband as one who has authority. The word he uses is Kurios:

Definition
1. he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord
a. the possessor and disposer of a thing
1. the owner; one who has control of the person, the master
2. in the state: the sovereign, prince, chief, the Roman emperor
b. is a title of honour expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master
c. this title is given to: God, the Messiah

Now when I read this definition, I am tempted to think that Paul had some sort of hardcore idea about wives, submitting to their husbands like they were her master, or owner, and women were some sort of property That is why we can never just look at a verse out of context, nor accept a meaning that completely goes against all the other teaching and scriptural precedence.

Paul, in verses 25 and 28 says that husbands must love their wives like they love their own bodies, and like Christ loved the church, giving His life for it. Elsewhere it talks about how the husband and wife become one flesh when they are married. In the old testament we have the stories of Abraham and Sarah, and Jacob and Rachel, as examples of how husbands loved their wives and protected them and desired to provide for them. Jesus had many women friends and followers, and even went out of His way to rescue and save women who were living sinful lives (woman at the well and woman caught in adultery) and he wasn't afraid of having His own reputation affected by His dealings with them. He recognized them, gave them significance, and welcomed them into the body of His followers. No where else does scripture say that its right for a husband to act like he owns his wife, and that the wife has to be in total submission to her husband. So we cannot take Paul's statement out of context, or remove from it the greater witness of the whole scriptures and teach some aberrant teaching on how wives must obey their husbands like he was their master.

At the end of the Book of Revelation, John writes the following: "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. [19] And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll." Revelation 22:18-19. It interesting that he mentions both the adding to the words, or taking words away from the scroll. That is exactly what taking a verse out of context and out of the witness of all the scriptures does, it takes words away, and thus gives a less than whole understanding of the truth, as it is set forth in the complete witness of scripture.