Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster

Week 8: Chapter 7 — Submission

Read Chapter 7 of Celebration of Discipline. Key Scripture: Ephesians 5:21; Philippians 2:3–8; Mark 10:42–45.

Submission is the discipline that strikes at the deepest human idol — the self's demand to be in control. Foster argues that freely chosen submission is not weakness but one of the most spiritually powerful acts a person can make. Approach this chapter with your defenses down.

Discussion Questions

7 questions

1.Foster defines submission not as passive doormat behavior but as the voluntary yielding of our own rights and preferences for the sake of another and for the love of God. How does that definition differ from what you may have assumed 'submission' means? Does the word carry negative connotations for you?

2.He argues that the 'most radical social teaching of Jesus' was His replacement of the power pyramid with the servant basin — as illustrated in John 13 when Jesus washed the disciples' feet. Why is that act of foot-washing such a radical model? What would it look like to imitate it in your daily relationships?

3.Foster lists several arenas of mutual submission: to God, to Scripture, to family, to neighbors, to the body of Christ, and to the broken and despised of the world. Which of these is most difficult for you, and what does that difficulty reveal about where your will is most stubbornly enthroned?

a.Is there a specific relationship in your life right now where submission feels costly? What would it look like to practice it?

b.Is there a context where submission has been demanded of you in unhealthy ways? How does Foster's account help you distinguish healthy from harmful submission?

4.Foster is careful to say that submission does not mean accepting abuse or surrendering moral responsibility. How does he distinguish between legitimate submission and enabling harm? Why is that distinction critical?

5.He writes that we are freed to submit because Jesus is Lord — our security doesn't depend on protecting our own position. How does the lordship of Christ make submission less threatening? What changes when you trust that God is in control of the outcome?

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Closing Prayer

Full guide

Lord Jesus, You who knelt with a basin and a towel and washed the feet of the ones who would soon betray and abandon You — teach us that kind of love. We confess how tightly we hold our rights, our preferences, our need to be in charge. Forgive us for the ways we have used power to protect ourselves rather than to serve others. Make us people who can kneel — freely, joyfully, securely — because we know whose we are. Amen.

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