The biblical response to authority is biblical submission. Before we can learn how to exercise authority we must first learn how to submit. One is a child before he is a parent; he must be a follower before he can lead.
The two kinds of biblical submission are general submission and specific submission. General submission is the overall attitude of yielding to everyone, regardless of position, age, sex, intellect, or whatever. It means a willingness to give in to anyone and to serve anyone: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21).
For me, one of the outstanding examples of someone with this general spirit of submission was Billy Graham. I remember a night years ago when he and several other Christian leaders were seated around a table, and various ones there were telling him how he ought to give the closing invitations at his crusade meetings. He is obviously gifted by God in this form of evangelism and had been doing it for a long time, while those who were giving him their opinions were not necessarily specialists in evangelism. I marveled at the graciousness and openness with which he listened to them and accepted their suggestions. I later worked with the Billy Graham team for seven years and had opportunity on many occasions to observe his spirit of submissiveness and servanthood.
A relaxed assurance comes into the life of someone who has this kind of spirit. He doesn’t have to be defensive or combative, always trying to be right and have his own way. He can be open and relaxed. Blessed are the meek.
There is also specific submission: submitting in any of the particular authority-submission relationships we listed earlier, whether it’s to a husband, parents, an employer, the government, or spiritual leaders. In each of these, God’s order is for us to submit. He commands it and he expects it.