Follow Up to Yesterday's Message

Per a request, I've been asked to share a little from yesterday's message. I'm in a series called The Upside Down Way of Jesus. The first week was "Last is First". The second week was "More Blessed to Give than Receive". Yesterday was "Slavery is Freedom". The premise of yesterday's message was that as Christians we are called to be slaves, not just servants of God. That wording is heavy and pointed, but that's exactly what the Bible says and means in many new testament passages about our relationship to Jesus. The call of the gospel is a call to slavery to Jesus. To serve Him only. To give up our rights and identities for Him. A total surrender of who we are. The link to the message is here. You can find the message by the date of March 21st or search it by title.

One of the statements that I quoted was one that a couple of people wanted repeated so they could write it down. The quote is from Joseph Tson and he said this, "In 21st century Christianity, we have replaced the expression total surrender with the word commitment and slave with the word servant. But there’s an important difference because we commit ourselves to do something, but we surrender ourselves to someone. A servant gives service to someone, but a slave belongs to someone." The new testament is trying to convey this thought to us. When we come to Jesus Christ we are to surrender ourselves totally to Him, not "make a commitment". Though making a commitment is not bad in and of itself, total surrender is giving up everything. That's what Jesus called us to do, isn't it? (Read Luke 14)

It's a heavy thought slavery. Tson sums it up well in that last line though. A servant serves someone, but a slave belongs to someone. We are slaves to Jesus because when you believe and accept, you belong. You are no longer your own. J.C. becomes your identity and He is not your master.

After the service yesterday the elders and I prayed with a woman who was having a physical difficulty. As the elders prayed, I was blessed. Several of them referred to God as "Master". This is the call of our life as Christians! Jesus is our master and we are His slaves.

Another item I was asked to share here on the blog was the definition from the Greek Lexicon for the Greek word "kurios" pronounced kooreeos which is translated in the English Bible as "Lord". We hear "Lord" and we think what...God, right? But the use of this term in the N.T. first century culture was a term of slavery as one who was lord over slaves. The Greek lexicon says this, "he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has the power of deciding." The part that really gets me in this, and I think got so many others in the message yesterday, was two thoughts. First of belonging, which I mentioned above. And second of the master/kurios having the power of deciding. It's as if, hang in here with me, that the free will that God has given each man is given back when we surrender to Christ and he has the power of deciding. We are surrendering our rights, our personal preferences, our decision to Him. As His slaves we are constantly aligning ourselves with His thoughts, His ways, His directives. And when we do that, we are blessed with holy, righteous, and obedient lives.

I know, there's a lot to digest here. Read Romans 6:16-23. Examine your heart. Pray. Ask yourself, are you a slave to God or a slave to the world? Then, go do something about it!