• Why “Be in Subjection”?
    The Watchtower—1980 | May 15

    • The Christian congregation is also an organization, with one head over it, namely, Jesus Christ. All its members are to be in subjection to him. For that matter, he himself is also in subjection. To whom? To his heavenly Father, Jehovah God. Yes, the Christian “congregation is in subjection to the Christ.” (Eph. 5:24) In fact, “the head of every man is the Christ.”​—1 Cor. 11:3.

      How does Jesus Christ, an invisible, divine being in the heavens, exercise his headship over a visible human congregation here on earth? One way is through the inspired Scriptures. The congregation can only be considered to be Christian if it is obedient to the commands of Jesus himself and those given under inspiration by his apostles and other disciples.​—Matt. 18:18; 28:19, 20.

      Furthermore, Jesus exercises his headship over the Christian congregation by means of the “helper,” “the spirit of the truth,” God’s holy spirit, or active force. (John 16:7, 13) Then, too, he makes use of angels in carrying out his headship of his congregation. (Matt. 18:10; 24:31; Rev. 14:6) Jesus Christ also exercises his headship over the Christian congregation here on earth by means of a body of faithful anointed Christians, concerning whom Jesus said: “Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time? Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so. Truly I say to you, He will appoint him over all his belongings.”​—Matt. 24:45-47.

      For Jesus Christ to get the work accomplished that he commanded his followers to do, namely, to make disciples of people of all the nations, they must work in peace and harmony. They must “all speak in agreement.” So all must be in subjection to the instrument that he is pleased to use. As we read: “God is a God, not of disorder, but of peace.” So in the Christian congregation “all things [should] take place decently and by arrangement.”​—1 Cor. 1:10; 14:33, 40.