Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade, called himself a slave of Christ. So did the apostle Paul. Why would these men want to describe themselves in such a way? How could being a slave ever be a good thing?
When most people think of the word "slave", it does not have very positive connotations. It brings to mind the thought of evil taskmasters or oppression. Slavery meant a life of restrictions, hard labor and being at the mercy of others. You could be sold or separated from your family at any time. In many societies, slaves had no rights. Slaves were frequently beaten or abused.
Where Bill Bright and the apostle Paul crazy or did they have a different understanding of what it meant to be a slave? They came to realized that being God's slave means something completely different. It is the key to life, freedom, and happiness. Serving The King (God)is the best gig in town. And those who know The King know that He is trustworthy, loving and generous.
In Romans 6, the apostle Paul describes man's position as one of serving either sin or righteousness. Serving ourselves always eventually leads to sin, whereas serving God leads to righteousness and eternal life. This leads me to ask, "Is man ever truly free?" Either way, he serves something. Some how this doesn't seem fair to me. But I have come to learn that fair has nothing to do with reality in this fallen world.
We must choose every day who we are going to serve. Even when we think we are serving ourselves, we are actually serving sin if we decide to act against God's will.
This leads me to go even deeper and wonder about the relationship between God's gift of salvation and our service to Him. If Jesus freely gave of His life to remove the record of our sin, what does He ask for in return? If He doesn't want anything as "compensation", can I accept Jesus' gift without making Him my master? Does Jesus want servants who serve Him because it is their heart desire or because they have to in order to avoid the fires of hell? Which one of these scenarios really captures the essence of love?
In the Old Testament when a slave (servant) reached the time to be released, he/she could be set free or become a slave for life. Sometimes slaves had it real good with their masters. They liked the household they were in and the family that they served. They were well cared for, protected and did not have to worry about building a future on their own. Sometimes, people would decide to be permanently tied to a household. They would serve a family in exchange for provision, care, protection and a sense of belonging. In this case, the person becomes a slave by choice not by debt or requirement. These people were known as love slaves because they loved their masters and their families. If a slave wanted to stay with the master forever, the master would take an awl and push it through the servant's ear lobe into the door as a sign that the person had become forever tied to that household. This practice described in the Old Testament law helps us understand what God desires from His people.
I am starting to see that God wants love slaves who serve Him out of free will not compulsion. God sets us free so that we can love and serve Him as we choose.
Men are set free by serving God and obeying His command. This is a natural result because God's ways are best - bringing life and liberty. But we do not serve God as a bargain or bribe for our salvation and liberty from sin. God does not play "Let's Make a Deal." God shows us love, mercy and grace. We can be set free and choose to live in that freedom or we can decide to go back to bondage. The choice is up to us.
Who or what do you serve? Who is your master?
You may think, "I am my own master. I don't answer to anyone but me." And while that may be a nice fantasy to have, it is never really true. We are all slaves to someone or something...even if it is our own desires and lusts. We are slaves to what has control over us and what we are powerless to resist. Since we all must serve something, I have thrown my lot in with the apostle Paul and others who decided to bend their necks and become a slave to Christ.
