You Rebel Scum
I’ve been following an interesting discussion about authority over at Adventures in Mercy. While the bulk of the discussion deals primarily with parenting (and there is some pretty scary stuff out there), the tendency of some Christians to see any questioning as rebellion surfaced as well. The assumption is that God places all authorities in their positions and therefore to question them is to question God which is a sin. You can see how easily this can be abused.
In this view parents have complete authority over their children just by virtue of having contributed sperm and egg. For children or other adults to question this authority for any reason (like if the child is being abused) is rebellion. Children are made to force even their bodily functions into submission to some other person. The parent determines when they use the bathroom and how much they have to eat – punishing them (usually physically) when they rebel against those structures. And we wonder at the plethora of sexual dysfunctions and eating disorders.
Same principle applies to church and government leaders. I once attended a church that held to these sorts of views. If a person left the church and told the pastor why, the pastor would tell the congregation on a Sunday morning what a sinful and wrong person they were. My small group leader there harped upon this submission to authority idea incessantly (especially about how all women need to submit to all men since men in generally are the authority over women). At one point she even said that submission of the German people to Hitler was right because God placed him in authority over them. I left eventually. I’m sure they called me names too.
Other examples aren’t so extreme although they are still disturbing. Church staff who are fired because they read a book the head pastor doesn’t like (which put them in rebellion to that pastor’s authority). And it astounds me the number of Christians who refuse to challenge any government or economic policy (as long as it came from Republicans) just because we are “supposed to submit ourselves to government authorities.” War and torture and capitalism must all be good all the time because they were mandated by God appointed authorities. (but of course the same groups love the Revolutionary War…). I often wonder what they would say to the OT prophets… “OMG that guys questioning the King, he is not in full and complete submission, BURN HIM!” (or something to that effect).
I’m not opposed to the idea of authority nor do I promote anarchy, but I don’t for a minute believe that any person who happens to grasp some power should be submitted to as a representation of God. I do not think believers should ever reject the command to “test the spirits” or abandon the prophetic call to challenge something that just isn’t right. And any church/family/government that feeds people the line that they have to submit to abuse, be it spiritual, emotional, physical, or whatever, has lost any claim to authority already in my book. But then again, I’m apparently already too far gone into rebellion to have any input in those cultures.
I personally have been called rebellious for reading certain books, for listening to women speakers, for watching movies, for asking theological questions, for conversing with the emerging church, for drinking wine, for shopping at stores near stores that sell wine, for wearing pants, for allowing my husband to do housework, and for questioning the war. Of course, I’m told, I will one day repent and become exactly like them (whoever happens to be condemning me at the moment). I will revert to being the person that they assumed I once was (and might actually have been) and never think again. Apparently that would be appropriate Christian “growth.”
I think I’d rather just be rebel scum.
julieclawson(at)gmail(dot)com 
Maybe you should write a dystopian story in which no one is ever “rebellious” and, as a result, civilization stagnates…and then crumbles after the death of innovation in science, medicine, etc.
Just a thought.
You shop at stores near stores that sell wine?! I am totally not reading your blog any more.
I must be living on a different planet. What I mostly see in families, schools, communities, even churches, is rebellion (in many forms) elevated to a divine right. Children and adults are no longer urged to question authority, but defy authority as either inept or corrupt (no matter how good or bad it is).
Certainly, there is no place for the kind of abusive authority you describe. But authority properly exercised provides wonderful freedom for a kid to be a kid, for all of us to grow in faith and love into a respectful, responsible adults.
LOVE this post.
Pistol Pete brings up a good perspective. For those NOT entrenched in “church culture,” his perspective is probably right. Submission is one of the hallmarks of Christianity: we learn, through the example of our Shepherd, to be a humble people (whether that means humbly leading or humbly following). Loud aspects of our culture put little value on humility, little value on appreciating the wisdom that those in our lives can offer us, etc. The Christian is right to turn from those voices.
But, Pete, even though your neck of the woods is different, I don’t think Julie is opposing submission (nor was I). It’s the different *concepts* of what authority and submission mean that are being discussed.
The kind of authority that DEMANDS unquestioning obedience, that assumes oneself to be The Voice of God…? That was the sort of authority JESUS opposed (”If you want to be a great leader, then be the servant of all,” etc).
For those of us infused/saturated in conservative church culture…?
*puts on best Valley Girl voice*
OH. MY. GOD.
Your second to last line is right on the money. Sometimes I think what’s meant by “Christian Growth” is merely shutting off the synapsis and going all robot, all the time. (And then we have the audacity to condemn the Mormons?)…
wouldn’t disallowing your husband to do housework be rebellious to his authority? seems to me that if he desires to do housework, it is your duty as a wife to submit to his authority in that matter and stand back submissively while he cleans the toilet.
I’ve always been a rebel, and proud of it (oops, two sins there).
My parents ended up kicking me out in high school for my rebellious ways of questioning everything (as they taught me to do) and wanting to listen to sinful music like The Beach Boys. I figured that living well is the best revenge, and if that’s the case then I definitely got even.
They got to watch me have a great life over the last decade or so, and I think they’re slowly coming to realize that they were wrong in many ways. Of course I don’t blame them (too much), they were only doing what they thought was right and couldn’t help themselves.
Frankie said it best: I did it my way.
Great, great quote I found:
“To develop a broader vision we must be willing to forsake, to kill, our narrower vision. In the short run it is more comfortable not to do this – to stay where we are, to keep using the same microcosmic map, to avoid suffering the death of cherished notions. The road of spiritual growth, however, lies in the opposite direction. We begin by distrusting what we already believe, by actively seeking the threatening and unfamiliar, by deliberately challenging the validity of what we have previously been taught and hold dear. The path to holiness lies through questioning everything.”
Doesn’t get more “rebellious” than that.
Cindy – lol. honestly in that particular conversation I was told that preventing my husband from sacrificing his masculinity by engaging in women’s work was actually the most submissive thing I could do because it built him up as a man. I think I just ended that conversation with a “whatever floats your boat” sort of response and left. creepy.
Pete – maybe we do live on different planets or perhaps I don’t get what you are saying. Sure I see kids in open rebellion just for the sake of rebellion, but I see a lot less of that than I do of mindlessly imposed authority. Silly rules these days that kids must submit to or else are making it impossible for kids to be kids. Kids wake up to a hurried regimented morning routine before they are rushed out the door to catch a bus. Then then are denied any ability to be a kid as the busdriver then teacher yells at them to get their butt in gear and follow rule after stupid rule that generally have nothing to do with being a kid or getting an education. the face more of the same regiment of yelling and forced submission in every single afterschool program on the planet and then get labeled as rebellious when they want to play with a friend instead of do their homework. No they aren’t given the option to question any of this, but are merely punished and labeled if they don’t comply. This doesn’t teach respect for authority, it teaches survival until they no longer have to deal with it and can split. If kids were given the opportunity to be kids (without being punished for it because it annoys an authority figure) then perhaps things would be better. But as is, generally when I hear teachers bitching about the rebellious kids they have to deal with, I take the side of the kid just for the fact that they have to deal daily with such a horrible “authority” figure.
No doubt you are seeing things from a different vantage point than I am. I certainly agree many kids are rushed way too much and that far too much is expected of them. This was a major reason my wife and I chose to home school.
Let me give you a prime example of what I’m saying. It happened just a couple months ago here on Long Island. A baseball coach takes one of his 10-year old players out of the game because he’s cursing and taunting the opposing players. The kid gets on his cell phone, calls his dad. Dad drives over with his brother and beats up the coach. Cops have to come to break it up.
That’s the sort of encouraged rebellion I mean.
LOL! From one rebel to another, you’re right on the money. Maybe if enough of us who have BTDT keep speaking out, more people will dare to ask questions – or at least know they are not lone aberrations. Great post!
Julie,
Great post!
The question is where is the locus of authority in the gathered community? Not based in the “charismatic gifts” of a dominant personality. Not based in the authoritarian domination of individual personality.
What does mutual submission look like that truly uncovers the reality of Christ in our midst? The servant-leader who stoops to wash feet. The Lord of the Universe who forgives the ones who execute him on the cross.
What might this kind of authority look like? And to what community are we in submission?
Thanks for another great post!
This was an AMAZING post.
The authority issue is so convoluted. Let me chime in here about the first paragraph where you were talking about parenting and children. I am the mother of three children who are unschoolers. We are learning to live in a different way – with communication and freedom – and yet I still find myself sometimes reverting to the “because I said so” mindset that is so culturally ingrained. And yet, the control that people think they execute over others more often than not tends to drive the other person to rebellion.
For instance, the most controlling, overbearing mothers have the daughters who can’t wait to get to our house to get on myspace with my kids, listen to music that is outside of the “Christian” genre, hide Harry Potter books, put on tons of make-up and talk of nothing but boys. All of these are things their mothers forbid. I am thinking it is only a matter of time before they are not allowed at our house – but I do not ever give them the impression that our rules are the same as theirs.
I have seen this happen in churches as well. We moved to a small rural Texas town a year and a half ago – and the first “in your face” issue with the churches we visited was alcohol – the county we live in is dry – and the pastors want it to stay that way. I blogged about it – and from one person to another that pastor read my blog – and preached a sermon that he must’ve outlined point for point from my blog. He basically said at the end (I don’t know how we sat through it) that the issue was “not up for discussion” and that if you didn’t have a “zero tolerance policy” on alcohol – not to let the door hit you in the butt on the way out. We didn’t.
This kind of blind obedience to authority is destroying any possibility of the unbelieving world seeing Christians as intelligent, reasonable, thoughtful people. Faith is not blind – but it would sure seem that way.
Anyway – I could go on and on and on – I have thoughts about Corrie ten Boom –
and I LOVED the point about the Revolutionary War – which was rebellion to authority at its very core – people contradict themselves all the time.
Holy moly.
Wow that’s a disturbing story. I think don’t often stop to think about how their “we speak for God so we are right, obey us” attitudes really hurt their witness.
I too am attracted to unschooling mostly because I don’t see the point of sending my kid to school to spend the day following stupid rules and learning how to take tests. I think I would “undermine the teacher’s authority” far too often for anyone’s good.
Julie, very good post and thanks for the link to “Adventures.” I see this issue often playing out in the area of church planting. More than once I have had the pastor of an existing church “forbid” someone planting another church in their town/community. This is especially true if it is someone from their congregation.
thanks for making me feel not-so-crazy!