Jump Start # 1682

Romans 6:16 “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?

Our verse today is an interesting and revealing thought. Most, especially in our modern Western world, not only do not like the tone of this passage, but would deny it. Slavery is out. No one wants to be a slave. Freedom and independence, whether from the tyranny of another nation or the bondage of someone who owns you, is always viewed as the best option. In my area there are historical signs documenting locations of the famed underground railroad that helped slaves escape from the south to the freedom of the north during the days of the Civil War. No one wants to be a slave. Yet, our passage tells us that we are.

Consider some thoughts:

First, no one is totally free. That’s the real troublesome thought here. It bothers me. It bothers many. We like to think that I do what I want to do. No one is over me. No one is telling me what to do. Paul here is showing us that we are either slaves of sin or slaves of righteousness. Our choices, not forced by another, yet are not purely free and independent as we might want to believe. So a person decides to follow God. He reads his Bible, worships on Sunday and makes choices that please God. He is doing what God wants him to do. Is he forced? Does he have to do those things? No. But it is what God wants. Another person has chosen to do the opposite. He doesn’t want to live by rules. He wants to do what he wants. He sleeps in on Sunday. He says whatever he feels like saying. He dresses, lives and makes his choices based upon what makes him happy. He never realizes that he is doing exactly what Satan wants him to do. He, too, like the other person,  is not forced. But his choices reflect the very life that Satan wants him to live, apart from God. Paul’s conclusion is that you can’t break totally free. You will either do what God wants or what Satan wants.

Second, these choices have conclusions and consequences. Doing what you want, which is what Satan wants, leads to death, spiritual death and eternal death. Doing what God wants leads to righteous living. The Christian’s life seems more structured and governed by rules. He does what the Bible says. The person of the world, although he doesn’t follow a book like the Bible, and there are no visible rules that he reads, his life is what  Satan wants. Anything other than the Biblical path, is what Satan wants. These choices take us places. For one, it is farther and farther away from God. His life shows very little godliness at all. His language is blasphemous and offensive. He ignores God’s rules about marriage and relationships. His life is addictions, selfishness and sour attitudes. He steals if it suits him. He drinks if he wants. No one tells him what to do, but without knowing it, he is following Satan. This path is a dead end road. He is not living to his potential. He is not doing the best that he can. He is not building healthy relationships around him. He will die and be lost forever because “he did what he wanted to do,” which is Satan’s gospel.

Third, slavery or being a servant, isn’t viewed in negative terms Biblically. This slavery has nothing to do with race, but everything to do with heart, obedience and truth. Many common Biblical expressions are tied in to the word servant. A minister is a servant. A deacon is a servant. Jesus, Himself, came not to be served, but to serve. He served mankind. The greatest in the kingdom, the Lord said, will be your servant. These thoughts are hard for us. The idea of a servant brings the image of being on the very bottom of the ladder. We want to work our way up to the top. Some start their own businesses because they want to be their own boss. This modern thought has crippled the church today. People show up to be served. If I don’t like things, I will go somewhere else. People ask, “what is your church going to do for me?” We live in a self-serving lifestyle. We pump our own gas. We check out our selves at the store. We don’t need bank tellers, we use ATM’s. We fill up our own soft drinks at the fast food restaurant. We don’t need others. We certainly do not do things for others. That’s the times we live in. That’s the spirit of today. That’s not the spirit of Christ. We are servants. We serve others, as He served others.

This spirit must be taught in our homes. No one is too good to help out. Dinner is over and everyone races to their room. The dirty dishes remain on the kitchen table. Who is going to take care of that? In a restaurant when you are finished eating, you leave. At home, no one is paid to come in and clean up. Each person takes their dishes to the sink. It’s not hard. Different ones take their turn cleaning up. It’s not hard. It teaches service.

In the church, deacons are not junior elders. They are not elders in waiting. They are servants. Servants, first of Christ and servants of the congregation. They serve. They must be busy doing what needs to be done. It’s not all physical things. We’ve demoted deacons to custodians and janitors of the church buildings. Why is it that a man must be married, have kids and be qualified and appointed by the church so he can change light bulbs and unclog toilets? Is that it? There were deacons in the first century. See Phil 1:1. Those congregations did not have church buildings back then. What did deacons do? Maybe their role was more spiritual than we allow them. Maybe they took financial support to Paul and carried inspired letters from him to the churches. Trusted, dependable and dedicated men that you know will get the work done, is what these servants are. In too many places today, there are the names of deacons on the role, but they don’t do anything. The church knows that they must have deacons, but they are in name only. The work that they could be doing is being done by elders, who won’t let anyone else do anything.

Servants. That’s what we are. We serve. We serve Satan or we serve Christ. We do what Satan wants or we do what Christ wants. Jesus said in the Gospels, “If you are not with me, you are against me.” There is no undecided here. To be undecided is to be with Satan.

Teach the heart of a servant. Understand what servants do. Open your eyes and see what you can do today. Roll up your sleeves. Get busy. Get out of the easy chair. Stop complaining about what folks are not doing for you and get doing what the Lord did.

Our verse began with this expression, “Do you not know…” I expect some don’t know. It’s time that we did.

Roger