Authority in the Home (Part 2)

So, Biblically, what is the authority in the home? The greatest passages to look at are in Ephesians 5 and 6.

Ephesians 5:21-24: Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Ephesians 6:1-4: Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

We see, in these passages, the order God has given to a home. Christ is the spiritual head, the father is the physical head, the
mother is next in authority, and children are final in the pecking order. This does not seem hard to understand. However, most fathers do not understand that they must submit to Christ. If the father does not have proper submission to Christ, there will always be authority issues in the home. There are many fathers who have a “caveman” mentality of their authority. These fathers “thump their chest” and “wave their club,” and they think that the minions in the house should cower and submit to them. His thought is that he has all-encompassing power and authority and he can do whatever he wants. This is not a Biblical view of authority. A father must submit to the Lordship of Christ and then, from that humble position, he is the head of the home.

The wife, then, must submit to her husband and together they are united as a team to work in rearing their children for the Lord. The burden for the nurture and admonition of the home is on the father. This is shown in Ephesians 6:4. Authority for the home is established by God, and this order must be followed for a Godly home to exist. Our society has placed an overemphasis on female leadership and child’s rights. We have seen so much of a deterioration in the home, that it is evident the average citizen of America does not even understand what a good, Godly home is like. Authority is essential to having a good home. We must understand the Biblical design for authority and how it helps in bringing order to the home and to society. Biblical authority also brings peace of mind to the children in the home. The children, as they mature into teenagers, will have a balanced philosophy of life and will be spiritually and socially fitted to being a benefit to God’s kingdom.

Let me close with a few simple points on Godly authority in the home and society:

All authority originates from God.
Authority is designed by God for blessing and protection.
Authority does mean superiority.
Proper authority needs accountability either to God or another chain of command.
Proper authority means one is responsible to the leadership they have.

Nowhere does the Bible say authority is always right. Only Christ is perfect! Aside from this, you will be able to see imperfections in the authority that has been placed in your life. Does this mean that we do not have to obey authority? No, it does not. Character is an important part of proper authority, but we must realize that we live in a finite, fleshly world where bosses, parents, pastors, and teachers have imperfections. This does not give us a right to rebel. There may be some proper channels that we can take to rectify erring leadership, but we should never allow rebellion into our lives. Biblically, opening the door to rebellion will allow the works of Satan into your life.