Carmen J. Bryant, August, 2002
19
to be bothered with the responsibility of thinking for themselves or making decisions.
Nevertheless, men do not turn into umbrellas when they say "I do," nor should women
leave behind their God-instilled minds and consciences when they cross the honeymoon
threshold. A woman's protection is the Lord God: "There is no other rock"--or
umbrella.
50
The root problem is not submission but usurped authority. The top human link in
this theoretical chain has assumed more authority than God has given him. He becomes
like the pagan that lords his authority over others, reminding them how they must
submit.
51
In The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, David Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen
describe such persons:
They spend a lot of energy posturing about how much authority they have and
how much everyone else is supposed to submit to it. The fact that they are
eager to place people under them--under their word, under their `authority'--
is one easy-to-spot clue that they are operating in their own authority.
52
Both submission and authority are legitimate teachings of Scripture, but they must
be interpreted in the light of all Scripture. Scripture gives limits so that neither
submission nor authority gets out of balance. "It is only appropriate to obey and submit
to leadership when their authority is from God and their stance is consistent with His."
53
In the ongoing debate in the church on male-female relationships, Gal. 3:28 has
been much used and sometimes abused. Nevertheless, it does proclaim a freedom that
was not present under the Law prior to Christ. In the context, Paul is stressing that all
50
Isa. 44:8.
51
Matt. 20:25.
52
David Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen, The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse: Recognizing and Escaping
Spiritual Manipulation and False Spiritual Authority Within the Church (Minneapolis: Bethany House,
1991), 64.