THOUGH I AM FREE AND BELONG TO NO MAN, I MAKE MYSELF A SLAVE TO EVERYONE, TO WIN AS MANY AS POSSIBLE.
1 Corinthians 9:19 (NIV1984)
These words are from Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Besides God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit the apostle Paul is one of my favorite people in the Bible. He’s a prime example of how an authentic encounter with God can wreck our plans for our benefit, the benefit of others and His Praise.
MANY ARE THE PLANS IN A MAN’S HEART, BUT IT IS THE LORD’S PURPOSE THAT PREVAILS.
Proverbs 19:21 (NIV1984)
Paul traveled to Damascus on a personal campaign to persecute followers of The Way, but before he could get there something unexpected happened (Acts 9:2). I can’t imagine he was the least bit aware of what impact this would have on his life and the lives of others…
Flickr/Ted
A SUDDEN TWIST
In a moment, the persecutor met the persecuted, the villain met the victimized, & the predator was found by the prey.
Paul met the resurrected Christ and was forever changed…
SOMETHING TO LOSE BUT MORE TO GAIN
Paul wasn’t a direct student of Jesus. Jesus was crucified in 30 AD and Paul wasn’t personally commissioned by Him until 35AD. Yet there are uncanny parallels in their teachings that prove more than mere coincidence.
As a religious leader, Paul was respected, revered and feared. He studied under Gamaliel a scholar and expert in Jewish law, who also served on a powerful board known as the Sanhedrin (Acts 5:34, Acts 22:3). This heightened his exposure and added to his influence.
Society teaches things like education and influence measure success, while Jesus taught the things that are highly valued to us are disgusting to God (Luke 16:15). Paul missed this teaching from Christ, but instinctively – or better yet as inspired by the Holy Spirit – knew and lived it. Does this mean we shouldn’t want these things⁉️ NO‼️What it does mean is these things shouldn’t rule us or stop us from doing God’s will.
IF YOU CLING TO YOUR LIFE, YOU WILL LOSE IT; BUT IF YOU GIVE UP YOUR LIFE FOR ME, YOU WILL FIND IT.
Matthew 10:39 NLT
Paul was skilled in Hebraic Law and customs, in reading his writings to the churches it’s evident he was well versed in Greek culture, aka pop culture, too. MESSAGE: DON’T BE SO DISCONNECTED FROM YOUR WORLD THAT YOU CAN’T REACH IT. For example, He engaged the people of Athens with words borrowed from Aratus, one of their own poets…In Him, we live and move and have our being… (Acts 17:28 | Aratus, Greek Poet | Brittanica.com ).
Still every accomplishment, all of his abilities, every measure of success paled in comparison to this new treasure he’d discovered in Christ (Philippians 3:7-9 KJV).
“THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE A TREASURE THAT A MAN DISCOVERED HIDDEN IN A FIELD. IN HIS EXCITEMENT, HE HID IT AGAIN AND SOLD EVERYTHING HE OWNED TO GET ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY THE FIELD.”
Matthew 13:44 NLT
Flickr/NauticalNancy
Back to my opening, Paul professed freedom while accepting his position as a slave (1 Corinthians 9:19). This statement seems like a contradiction. How can one be free yet a slave?
Flickr/Steve Swayne
This teaching seems hard to digest (John 6:60)…but this theology continues on the foundation Christ laid…
“EVEN AS THE SON OF MAN DID NOT COME TO BE SERVED, BUT TO SERVE AND TO GIVE HIS LIFE AS A RANSOM FOR MANY.”
Matthew 20:28 MEV
A life of self-denial for the benefit of others.
Let us consider the context of Matthew 20:28. Leading up to this statement, the sons of Zebedee, James & John, along with their mother spoke to Jesus about a promotion (Matthew 20:20-28, Mark 10:35-45).
It wouldn’t have been strange for these men to question their position, after all, they were His students. What position did they want? A high one. James and John desired to rule at Christ’s right and left hand, they desired a visible position of power and authority. They longed for man measured success and not God’s, which is according to His purpose in your life.
Neither brothers or mother saw as Christ had been teaching. Though Christ made clear God’s kingdom wasn’t earthly, or like the world, when He said it was without observation (Luke 17:20), they didn’t get it.
Flickr/Nyah74
In fact, most of the Jewish community held a skewed view of the Messiah and alleged “vengeance” He’d reserved for their enemies. They expected Christ to physically erect His kingship and violently inflict judgment on their then Roman rulers. Jesus lovingly responded, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” (Matthew 20:22 NLT) Naturally, James and John responded “YES.”
In these moments, we should stop to carefully consider our response. Quick responses typically come from our emotions and not our spirit. It’s important to respond with our spirit, the pure nature living within us that is most connected to God, versus our emotions!
BACK TO THE STORY
They were willing to rule with Christ and agreed they were even ready to share in His sufferings (Philippians 3:10). Christ promised they would…
Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”
Matthew 20:23 NLT
Eventually, James was beheaded (Acts 12:2) and John was exiled to the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9). Their elevation couldn’t be made by them, by man or Jesus. Promotion solely depends upon the Father.
So Jesus called the followers together. He said, “You know that the rulers of the non-Jewish people love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority over the people. But it should not be that way with you. Whoever wants to be your leader must be your servant. Whoever wants to be first must serve the rest of you like a slave. Do as I did: The Son of Man did not come for people to serve him. He came to serve others and to give his life to save many people.”
Matthew 20:25-28 Easy-to-Read Version
For ages, man has been driven to parade his authority by ruling over others, but you are to be different and this lesson is to challenge our thinking.
- Many want to be great and you should be great, but not to feel accepted.
- Many want to be validated and you should receive validation, from God and not the praises of man.
You are not a role. You are not a title. You aren’t a function or even your gift(s). You are YOU! You are a servant of God and then to others. Like Jesus and Paul, we are to dedicate our lives in the simplicity of service to God so that others may live.
The kingdom of God has often been called the upside-down kingdom. In the kingdom, the way up is down. It is the opposite of this in the kingdoms of the world, which are often characterized by everyone trying to get to the top. Selfish ambition and pride have no place in the kingdom of God.
(Eckhardt, 2011, pg. 130)
This “Upside-Down Kingdom” John Eckhardt’s writes about in The Invisible King and His Invisible Kingdom, is the same kingdom that Christ revealed to His followers in words and deeds.
WHAT ARE YOU BUILDING?
This post started 110 days ago and went unfinished because I was without a close. While writing thoughts on identity I considered how our resources, whether spiritual or natural, have been given to aid us in fulfilling our destinies.
Our destiny is to fulfill our purpose. It sounds selfish, like it’s about us, but is not. Our purpose is God’s purpose and aligns to His ultimate plan for the world.
Cbenjasuwan/FreeDigitalPhotos.Net
With this thought, God brought to mind a DREAM I had the week of March 13, 2016. In the dream, I was looking at people, although I wasn’t able to discern their faces or who they were I was advised these were those building their own kingdoms…aka their own ministries.
***DISCLAIMER*** I am not opposed to people having “their own ministries.” It is not the name, but the affection behind it that can be an issue. The underlying notion always becomes the overriding emotion.
This brought to mind another thought. Someone recently texted me asking if I was still doing “my ministry.” I responded: “I wouldn’t call it my ministry or even a ministry…I’m just walking in His purpose for my life.” I thought if it’s anybody’s ministry it belongs to Christ. What do I mean? See, we each build on a foundation that’s already been laid…
Like an expert builder I built the foundation of that house. I used the gift that God gave me to do this. Other people are building on that foundation. But everyone should be careful how they build. The foundation that has already been built is Jesus Christ, and no one can build any other foundation.
1 Corinthians 3:10-11 ERV
In our quest to build, we must regularly examine ourselves and our work. We must keep watch over our emotions and guard our hearts to ensure its purity. Whatever resides in our hearts will ultimately be revealed.
In our work, we must ask ourselves if we’re adding to the foundation that’s already been laid or building our own. The Day will come when our work will be tested and I want us all to prove faithful (1 Corinthians 3:12-13).
Blessings & Peace
0 Comments