Obeying your leaders: A very short commentary on Hebrews 13:17

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
~ Hebrews 13:17 (NIV)

Let me start this post by saying that I believe there is such a thing as biblical authority, and that it is healthy for believers to obey their spiritual overseers in the local church. What I want to focus on here is the nature of this obedience.

According to Vine's Expository Dictionary Of Old And New Testament Words, the Greek work translated here as "obey" is peitho. Elsewhere in the Bible, peitho is translated as: to yield, to believe, to be assured, to have confidence in, to trust, and to be persuaded by. The obedience here is the kind that comes from a trusting relationship between human beings.

In contrast, look at the Greek word hupakouo, which is also translated as obey in some parts of the Bible. According to Vine's, hupakouo is used for obedience in the following instances:
(a) to God by everyone and everything in Hebrews 5:9 and 11:8
(b) to Christ by natural elements in Matthew 8:27
(c) to disciples of Christ when they command a mulberry tree to uproot cast itself into the sea in Luke 17:6
(d) to the faith by new believers in Acts 6:7; and to the Gospel in Romans 10:16 and Christian doctrine in Romans 6:17 (as to a form or mold of teaching)
(e) to apostolic injunctions, such as in Philippians 2:12
(f) to Abraham by Sarah, as in 1 Peter 3:6
(g) to parents by children in Ephesians 6:1
(h) to masters by servants in Ephesians 6:5
(i) to sin by ourselves if unaided by God in Romans 6:12
(j) in general as slaves in Romans 6:16

Hupakouo is not about being persuaded or trusting in someone. No, it is about unquestioning, automatic obedience that comes from domineering authority. It's important to note that nowhere in the list does Vine's apply hupakouo to the obedience that should occur between church members and their spiritual overseers. The vital difference is a trusting relationship that produces a voluntary yielding and submission. Moreover, hupakouo is unquestioning, whereas peitho implies that the person obeying weighs the instruction in his or her mind, then deliberately decides to submit to a fellow human being. (Of course, our relationship with God is also trusting like a sheep with its good shepherd or between close friends, but our obedience occurs because He is our Lord and Master.)

What does this imply for obedience to spiritual overseers in the church? It means that we should consider the results of their faith. Hebrews 13:7 says, "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith." We should know their lives and their conduct. This should produce a natural trust. If you obey your boss at work, it's likely hupakouo (though you're lucky if it's peitho). Or if you get stopped by the police, you're not supposed to care about how the officer manages his or her affairs at home. Peitho is different. We know our leaders and trust them.

Moreover, we consider what they say. Like the Bereans in Acts 17, we look in the Bible to see what they say is true or not. Otherwise, if we are not to consider what they say, how can we "be persuaded by" them as peitho implies?

I'm interested to hear the thoughts of people who have considered this question. What is the nature of obedience in Hebrews 13:17?