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Charlie Kirk is the Founder and President of Turning Point USA, the largest and fastest growing conservative youth activist organization in the country with over 250,000 student members, over 150 full-time staff, and a presence on over 2,000 high school and college campuses nationwide. Charlie is also the Chairman of Students for Trump, which aims to activate one million new college voters on campuses in battleground states in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election. His social media reaches over 100 million people per month and according to Axios, he is one of the "top 10 most engaged" Twitter handles in the world. He is also the host of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” which regularly ranks among the top news shows on Apple podcast charts.
Charlie Kirk on Biblical Submission in Marriage: Why the Husband's Role is Misunderstood
Charlie Kirk tackles one of the most misunderstood aspects of Christian marriage: submission. While many focus solely on wives submitting to husbands, Kirk reveals the critical condition that's often ignored—husbands must submit to Christ first. Without that foundation, the entire framework collapses. Kirk explains how this biblical hierarchy actually protects women and creates accountability for men, drawing unexpected parallels to addiction recovery programs. This conversation challenges both modern and traditional misconceptions about what submission really means in a godly marriage.
During a discussion about dating and relationships, Charlie Kirk and his panel explored the controversial topic of submission in marriage. When asked whether women should be submissive to their partners, Kirk affirmed the biblical model but immediately clarified a crucial point that's often overlooked in these conversations.
The discussion referenced the biblical hierarchy often depicted as an umbrella structure: Christ at the top, then the husband, then the wife. Kirk agreed with this framework but emphasized that there's a critical condition attached that fundamentally changes how we understand marital submission.
The Condition Everyone Ignores
Kirk pointed out that when people discuss submission in marriage, they typically focus only on women submitting to men. However, scripture actually says something more nuanced: women submit to your husbands as husbands submit to Christ. This "as" is not merely descriptive—it's conditional.
"If the husband fails to submit to Christ, then the wife no longer has to submit to the husband," Kirk explained. "That's the kicker that is not talked about." This means the husband's authority in the marriage is derived from and dependent upon his submission to Christ. When that submission breaks down, so does the framework.
What Breaks the Framework
Kirk clarified what this means in practical terms. If a husband becomes an alcoholic, drug addict, adulterous, or abusive, the wife's obligation to submit is violated because the husband is no longer submitting to Christ. This doesn't mean a husband can never sin—that would be an impossible standard. Rather, it's about patterns of behavior and repeated defiant actions against God's teaching.
"If he makes a pattern and a repeated defiant form of action, then that would violate that graphic and that scripture," Kirk said. The distinction between occasional failure and deliberate, ongoing rebellion is important. The biblical model includes accountability for husbands, not unlimited authority.
The AA Connection
The conversation took an interesting turn when connecting this principle to addiction recovery. Kirk noted that Alcoholics Anonymous, the most successful model for freeing people from addiction, is built on a uniquely Judeo-Christian foundation that requires participants to submit to a higher power.
The panel discussed why AA works so effectively: when people are at their lowest, struggling with addiction and down on themselves, they become more open to accepting God into their lives. This submission to a higher power—the recognition that "there is a God and it is not him"—becomes the foundation for recovery.
One panelist observed that it's easier to accept a higher power when you're experiencing rock bottom because you don't want to blame yourself entirely. Recognizing something bigger than yourself at work can be both humbling and liberating. The parallel to marriage is clear: submission works when it's rooted in recognizing proper authority and proper limits to that authority.
Why This Matters
Kirk's explanation reframes the entire conversation about submission in Christian marriage. Rather than being a one-sided command that gives men unlimited authority over women, the biblical model creates a chain of accountability. Men are accountable to Christ, and their authority in the home is contingent on maintaining that relationship.
This understanding protects women from abuse while still maintaining the biblical structure of family leadership. It also places a higher burden on men—they must actively pursue Christ and submit to His teachings if they expect their wives to follow their leadership. The authority comes with responsibility, and the responsibility comes with conditions.
