Kristen

Mark said:
“Yes my wife and i are included in Eph 5:21 since we are both members of the Christian community. We are included in the ‘one another’ as are all Christians in the Church. We will submit to those in the Christian community that God places over us.”
Then your insistence on consistency in Bible exegesis goes out the window. You are not submitting to “one another” but only to “some others.”
You are reading “submit” as “yield to the authority of,” and sometimes it does mean that. You give no compelling argument as to why it always means that. Neither do you explain why “one another” doesn’t mean “one another” but only “some to others.” But if submission always means “submission to authority,” then of course “one another can ONLY mean “some to others.” The fact remains, however, that “one another” DOESN”T mean “some to others.” It means “one another.” Therefore submission cannot always mean “submission to authority” — for the very reason you gave, that if everyone submitted to everyone else’s authority, no authority or leadership of any kind could exist.
One example where “submit” clearly does not mean “to authority” is where it is used in James 3 about the wisdom which is from above being “submissive.” The clear sense is that true wisdom submits to the valid arguments of others. Authority is not even a topic in that passage.