“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” – Eph 5:21

The historian and moralist, who was otherwise known simply as Lord Acton, expressed his opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887:"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."  Apostle John confronts Diotrephes, who loves to be first among others, took upon himself to put people out of the church. (3Jn 9-10) Only our Lord Jesus is the only perfect righteous King who will not abuse His absolute sovereignty. We all need to be responsible to lead together as a team.

However by virtue of personality, spiritual gifts and maturity, we can find leaders in the New Testamentchurch as “first among equals”. James was the dominant leader of the early church in Jerusalem, and Peter was the spokesman for the twelve disciples. (Ac 15: 13-21: 21: 18-26; Gal 2:6, 9) Even Barnabas was an earlier believer; Paul became the leader of their missionary team. Though these men might be the first among equals, they always led others under the lordship of Christ by seeking the counsel of leaders around them. Therefore leaders have the responsibility to lead together through submitting to each other out of reverence for Christ. (Eph 5:21)

When leaders submit to one another in their leadership, love will be resulted from this mutual submission. And this love becomes the authority to release explosive power to transform the organization and move it from glory to glory. This power is the same mighty strength that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at the right hand of God in the heavenly realms. (Eph 1:20) To God be the glory!

Let’s pray.

Lord, teach us to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ so that our team will experience the power of resurrection in overcoming any difficulty before us. In Jesus precious name. Amen.

Before we go, take a look at the questionnaire below:

1. In exercising leadership responsibilities, how should Christians understand and practice “mutual submission”?

2. Why is it said that absolute power leads to absolute corruption, and what warning does this offer for leaders in modern churches and organizations?

3. How do you see the relationship between reverence for Christ and mutual submission? Additionally, how can Ephesians 5:21 be practically applied in your own workplace or family setting?