Craig

My wife and I have been following the recent discussion on authority, submission and Ephesians 5 with interest. Thank you to everyone for your comments. There has been much food for thought.
I wanted to check if we are on the right track. Any feedback would be welcome.
In Eph 5, wives are to submit to their husbands because he is the head of the wife. The church is to submit to Christ because He is the head of the church.
This can mean either:
Wife/church submit (obey) because husband/Christ is head (authoritative ruler) of wife/church OR
Wife/church submit (serve) because husband/Christ is head (loves, cares for) wife/church
The latter does seem to fit the context better and is a biblical concept- we serve Christ because he loves us so much and gave his life for us. The context is not that we serve Christ because he is the authoritative ruler of the church. So in the same way, wives are to serve their husbands who are to love and care for them, not because he rules with authority over them.