Submission a Pre-Requisite to Evangelism?

I recently started re-reading Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. In the middle of the book is a chapter on submission.

Foster's understanding of submission is critical for the practical application of evangelism, or the sharing of the "Good News". Per Foster, Jesus' radical statement, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Mark 8:34 is the key to a biblical understanding of this spiritual discipline.

Before taking up a cross, Jesus says a person has to deny himself or herself. Foster goes on to say that denying ourselves, or submitting, is "simply a way of coming to understand that we do not have to have our own way." When we can admit that we don't have to have our own way, Foster states that we gain "the ability to lay down the terrible burden of always needing to get our own way." In fact, he states in another place that "Only submission can free us sufficiently to enable us to distinguish between genuine issues and and stubborn self-will."

It's the last statement that started a bunch of thoughts in my mind. I tend to like my own way. So, how does that self-centeredness point me toward my own stuff rather than genuine issues? What would it look like for me to surrender my need to defend myself, to protect myself, to serve myself? What would it look like for an entire community of believers, to do that? As I ask these questions, I think of Jesus' response to the teacher of the law in Mark 12:30-31 regarding which of the commandments was most important "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

If each of us is able to deny that natural self-centeredness and submit...to God, to others...what type of issues would we be able to rally around? In what way could we accomplish God's mission on earth which is hindered when our own issues are allowed to take the forefront.

I think it is at this spot we realize that submission is a key requirement for the sharing of the good news. Without it, the good news is easily tainted with with our own stuff.

*"Submission" is a word with tons of social baggage. I highly recommend reading Foster's book, specifically the chapter on submission and in particular, his analysis of the limits of submission."