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The title of this one is a bit of a misnomer. Authority has nothing to do with worth. This has come up for me recently and I figured I’d share.

God set up authority and how it works, but it isn’t based on someone being worth more than someone else. Look at the Trinity for example. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all the same person. They are all equally important. But the Son submits to the Father’s authority, and the Spirit submits to the Son’s authority.

Also look at the way God set up authority in the home and in the church. “Oh, well that’s a bunch of misogynous patriarchy!” Well, some people make it that way, but that it isn’t what it is. Authority isn’t set up because someone is always wiser or smarter or stronger than another. God is a God of order. He set up authority so that we wouldn’t sit and squabble about how to make a decision and about who is really in charge. He also set up authority to show a picture, an example. Are we perfect in the way we hold authority and submit to it? No, but that doesn’t mean that God didn’t set up authority and submission on purpose. Look to Him to see how it’s supposed to work.

Authority has nothing to do with worth. Submitting to authority doesn’t make you lesser than the one in authority. Being in authority doesn’t make you more important or automatically better at something than those under you. God created authority and submission. God Himself is authority and submission.