Neither submission nor humility are appetizing.
Were they menu items, the corresponding pictures would be wholly lackluster.
For the connotation we have been sold is that of physical weakness and a lack of mental will power.
As a society we are constantly encouraged to rebel against authority and look down on the ‘sheep’ who constitute the mainstream. Considering the issue, I recognize that I buck when corralled and directed to act in ways not in exact alignment with my own opinion. Regardless of what I vocalize, my underlying thought is almost always that I know better and should therefore be in control. Submission and humility have therefore been relegated to second or even third tier character traits.
However, as unpopular as their perception may be, submission and humility play an absolutely fundamental role in life. Void of them, teams, governments, corporations, schools, and families cannot effectively function. Jesus explores the topic in Luke:
“The servant who knows what his master wants and ignores it, or insolently does whatever he pleases, will be thoroughly thrashed. But if he does a poor job through ignorance, he’ll get off with a slap on the hand. Great gifts mean great responsibilities, greater gifts, greater responsibilities.”
I worked for a boss who was very directive and heavily involved in all manner of minutia. I chaffed at his involvement, seeing it as a lack of trust in my competence and judgement. However, it was his prerogative, and he had undoubtedly been successful. While I disagreed with his style of leadership, the wisest move I made was in shaping my own approach in a way that best communicated to him. Humility and submission ruled the day.
For submission and humility are not about quitting, but accepting the finite nature of our own wisdom and influence. We have all been blessed with certain competencies, but that does not make us all-knowing, and others surely remain with greater depth, experience, or perspective we can learn from. Looking back, I recognize my own vantage point has often been obscured by false summits and missed cues.
Submission and humility therefore are not hallmarks of the fool but the sage. Their prevalence enables a group of people with competing priorities and perspectives to work together and complete an objective. Perhaps it is time we gave them their due regard.