We know America, right? Land of the free. We value our freedom above just about anything else. The Bill of Rights was largely put in place to insure ... our freedoms. Patrick Henry famously said, "Give me liberty, or give me death." July 4th is our "Independence" day. We love our freedom. Which is how I know Paul wasn't an American.
Silly, I know, but you understand I'm talking about the principle, not the country. Paul introduced himself in more than one epistle as "Paul, a bondservant of Christ ..." (Rom 1:1; Php 1:1; Titus 1:1). In Philemon he was "Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus" (Phm 1:1). And he spoke all the time about being a servant, serving at the will of God. Because freedom wasn't Paul's highest desire ... serving God was. The concept actually jarred the disciples. Jesus said He "did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mat 20:28). In John 13, He actually took the role of the lowest servant and washed His disciples' feet ... with protests from Peter (John 13:3-17). "Me? Serve?? No!" But Jesus did. Peter urged servant leadership for shepherds among the Church (1 Peter 5:1-4). Not "lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:3).
Good Americans resist this kind of thing. I remember teaching an adult class on Philippians and one of the older members took offense at Paul's declaration of being a "bondservant of Christ." "I'm no one's slave," he said. I think most of us echo that sentiment ... to our own shame. Freedom from human oppression is a good thing, but we are made for good works ... made to serve. Christ did it (Php 2:5-8). The Apostles did it. Perhaps our "worship" of freedom is a rebellion we shouldn't abide in ourselves if it means we refuse to serve ... our Lord. (Ask yourself ... do the terms "Lord" and "King" disturb you?) We will serve. The question is ... whom?
3 comments:
It sounds like that gentleman had not received sufficient expository teaching before your class. The Greek word for “slave” (doulos) is applied to believers at least 40 times in the New Testament, yet it’s usually mistranslated as “servant” or “bondservant” in our Bibles. (I learned this through John MacArthur’s sermons and his book, Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ.)
We've distorted the original ideas from the founders about freedom and liberty. They weren't pushing for unfettered freedom and liberty to do as you please without consequence. They had more Christian ideas about freedom and liberty. The freedom to worship and serve God without the interference of government was paramount.
Strangely enough, the slavery to YHWH Paul refers to actually does provide us with a different kind of freedom.
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