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The Moral Authority of Scripture
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should he subject to husbands as an end in itself, but rather as “ to the Lord.”
So the manner of being “ subject” cannot be read off the face of the text nor
can it be made clear by exegesis alone. In fact, exegesis itself points us to
recall the ways in which we as members of the church have learned to be
subject to one another as faithful disciples of Christ. That direction should
effectively restrain a contemporary reader from trying to understand “ subor
dinate” from a perspective that assumes all moral relations which are not
“ autonomous” are morally suspect.
There is no doubt that the
Haustafeln
are in danger of great distortion
and harm if they are lifted out of their theological and community context and
turned into general admonitions meant to apply to any community. But that is
just what their existence in scripture should prohibit. One need not agree with
Yoder’s argument that the
Haustafeln
were necessary because the freedom
established by this new community created the possibility of insubordination
in order to appreciate how the
Haustafeln
are but reminders of the radical
nature of the new community that has been called into existence—namely,
one where service to the other is freed from concern with status and envy.60
Finally, there can be no ethical use of scripture unless we are a commu
nity capable of following the admonition to put “ away falsehood, let every
one speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be
angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no
opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor,
doing honest work with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in
need. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but such as is good for
edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those that hear. And
do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be
put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, ten
derhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph.
4:25-32).