Dear Trekker,

There is hardly a more pejorative, explosive word in the American English lexicon today than the word slavery. Many thought slavery was “over” following the U.S. Civil war of 150 years ago. I would argue differently. Slavery will never be over in any of our lives until we understand its essence. This month I want to tackle the real shackles of the slavery that affects us all.

SIN could be an apt acrostic for self-interest now. God spoke to man (and woman) quite unequivocally in the Garden! He said “don’t” eat of the fruit of the tree! At the moment of decision now, man thought it not in his (or her) self-interest to follow God’s proscriptive authority, so he ate! The act of following self before God resulted in alienation and a broken relationship with God, as well as the first argument between two people. The decisive outcome of one sin resulted in us preferring self-interest over God-interest thoughts. It is the attitude of, “I want what I want, when I want it, in the way I want it,” now!

Now let’s tie this thought with another we live out daily, this “I want what I want” attitude. The truth is, all our crying and whining we learned as a child works only so far and so long. Sooner or later, we learn what “no” means, often the hard way. This leads to frustration, guilt and inevitably inferiority. I remember the kiss of death to another kid while we all were growing up was, “Oh, he has an inferiority complex.” He or she is inferior because they are not as sweet, as athletic, as pretty, as popular, etc. You know how it goes…or went. Some of us work hard at disguising our inadequate moments not as inferiority, but such feelings are there for us all, particularly so while growing up.

Self-doubt reigns in each of us at some time in our lives. It starts as a baby when we are learning that everyone really does know more and can do more than we. Later, someone is bigger, taller, tougher, smarter than we are. Self-doubt is always real. In reality, we become a slave to self, trying to prove first to ourselves that we can do something, that we are as good as the next person, that we matter.

In essence, we try through achievement to recapture our worth! Never mind that our real worth comes from our creator, by God in His image. Yes, we “lost” that concept when we “forgot God and his order” and decided we would follow self-interest, not God.

“Self-interest now” is deadly. There can be no freedom when we are a slave to self-interest. It is me, myself and I. So we use and abuse others, and have little twinge of conscience. (It is an amazing story how slavery in this country was condoned and propagated by Christian people for so long.) Since self-doubt and inadequacy are fully debilitating, we use excuse after excuse to stiff-arm God. Yet, ironically, each of us in Christ are a divine original (one of my favorite phrases). We have gifts, talents, strengths, etc…all part of being a divine original, and more so when indwelt by the Spirit of God in redemption. We need not compare ourselves with each other, we are all originals! (Trekker, lay this letter aside for a minute. Read Genesis 3 and Galatians 5 before you read on.)

Let’s recap. If I am a slave to self first because of my disobedience and alienation from God, perhaps that is why I exploit and enslave (if I can) others, treating them unfairly, inhumanely, and more as “objects,”  not persons Christ loved and for whom He died. But, if I am a new person in Christ, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, I can and will be free in Christ. “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (Read John 8:31-47.)

How ironic (in John 8) that the Jewish people, who knew slavery so well at  the hands of the Egyptians, could never quite grasp the concept of real slavery, their own, to sin! Jesus, the master Teacher, as well as Savior and Lord, “chewed up” the Pharisees in his arguments of who comprised the true children of Abraham!

Continuing to recap…what is the Bible story, if not a story of God’s redemption from personal slavery for each of us into His likeness? The Scriptures counter the enslaving sin experience by the liberation of the Gospel (See Galatians 4:4-5). We each become “free in Christ,” free to be our true selves and free from the need to enslave others to better ourselves! The history of redemption of slaves down through history is indeed intriguing. Once a slave’s freedom is bought (in many cultures), he is free completely… a new man. I say with the Apostle Paul, that has happened to each of us in Christ in His redemption at Calvary.

I like the phrase from Eugene Peterson, “Jesus, it must be remembered, restricted nine-tenths of his ministry to twelve Jews (his disciples) because it was the only way to redeem all Americans.” If we love others as we love ourselves and send the Gospel throughout the world, that is an act of true freedom!

In closing, let me be most direct. Life in Christ is nothing more or less than receiving in our mortal bodies the very life of God. No more “getting even” with the world. We are forgiven, welcomed, blessed! We venture forth in faith daily knowing we cannot lose our most precious possession…the Spirit of God within us. We are free. No more living by appetites or impulse alone; no more cruel, greedy grabbing. We are free to be loving, kind, and forgiving, encouraging and affirming all people. People for whom Christ died are more important than property or power. Forgiveness, not revenge, is the secret ingredient to a full life.

Trekker, next time the word slavery comes up, let’s vow to put the subject in eternal context. Jesus Christ set us free 2000 years ago. The one race, the human race, has value. Every man, woman and child has value to God and therefore to us. Let’s live it out. The world of today will be better if we do.

Free in Christ, your friend,

Jim Meredith