The church is the mingling of God with man, but a great principle in this mingling is man’s subjection to God. The mingling of God with man involves man’s subjection to God, not God’s subjection to man. Quite often people ask, “Why are men and women not equal in the church?” An older sister once questioned me, “Why does God want the sisters to be subject to the brothers?” So I asked her, “Why is your eye placed under your eyebrow?” She replied, “Forget it; you always win.” The relationship between a husband and a wife is an exact description of the relationship between Christ and the church. A wife’s subjection to her husband signifies the church’s subjection to Christ.
Ephesians 5:31 says, “For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.” Since the wife and the husband become one, who is the head? If there are two heads on the same body, this would be monstrous. In a wedding the bride generally covers her head with a veil. Why does the bridegroom not cover his head? When two people are married, one person’s head should be covered because there can be only one head for the couple, each of whom previously had their own head. When a couple is married, they declare to the universe that the two have become one; that is, they have one head. Nevertheless, we must ask the married brothers who have some experience in their married life whether their marriage has two heads or one. In the saints’ homes we often see many heads; consequently, there are many problems. Having more than one head makes our living a very complicated matter.
We need to ask ourselves whether there are two heads or one in our married life. I am afraid that some will say that they have at least one and a half heads in their married life, with one head being the brother’s and the half head being the sister’s. The sisters need to cover their “half head” so that they do not nullify the meaning of head covering.
The universe has laws. It is a marvelous thing that in every place and throughout all time, brides have covered their heads during a wedding. According to God’s light, when two people are married, the two become one. There is only one head, not two. In order for there to be one head, the second head needs to be covered. This is a picture of Christ and the church becoming one. When two become one flesh, one head needs to be covered. The church is not the head; rather, Christ is the Head of the church. Christ is the Head of the church, and the church is His Body. Just as the church is subject to Christ, a wife should be subject to her husband. The two become one. Hence, in order for God and man to be mingled together as one, man needs to obey God and be subject to Him.
Some may ask, “If a wife is subject to her husband, does she become a person without any consciousness? Is she like a chair that has no feelings about where it is placed and how it is used?” This is not a reasonable thought, because sisters have a mind, emotion, and will. Being subject to her husband does not mean that a sister no longer uses her mind, emotion, and will; rather, it means that she accepts God’s will, God’s view, and is subject to God. As God moves within, her will submits to God’s will and her mind accepts God’s thought. She does not care for herself. This can be compared to the Chinese proverb which says, “A husband sings, and the wife follows.”
We need to be subject to God, but this does not mean that we do not have any consciousness, choice, preference, or thought. In a strong and spiritual church, the believers are full of choices, preferences, and thoughts; however, their choices are God’s choices, their preferences are God’s preferences, and their ideas are God’s ideas. Outwardly it may seem as if only the church is moving, but actually God is mingled with the church and moving in the church. As far as such Christians are concerned, God is mingled with them in their living and moving. Their move is the move of God with man; the two have become one. Therefore, as far as the church is concerned, she is truly both man and God. No matter how we look at her, there is a special flavor of both God and man. We always should remember this point.
If we go to a certain place and discover a group of zealous Christians, we should not praise them quickly, saying, “All the churches should have this kind of zeal; this is the proper condition of the church.” We should not react quickly. Instead, we should ask, “Is this zeal only of man, or has it been stirred up by God’s love in them?” These are two different sources. Some expressions of zeal come solely from man, but other expressions come from man’s love for God and from his subjection under God’s hand which are the result of God’s operation in man. The two expressions are different; one comes from man’s zeal, the other from the mingling of God with man. The former is not of the church, but the latter is of the church. This is a great matter and crucial principle. We must keep this principle.
If we want to know whether a church in a locality is the church, we must hold on to the principle that the church is the mingling of God with man and that the move of the church is the move of the mingling of God with man. It is not a simple and easy matter to make a judgment based on this principle, and if we are careless, we can easily make mistakes. We should take this as a basic principle but not make any judgment according to this principle in a loose and careless way.