John Macarthur recently wrote a book that puts in the forefront the Christian's identity as slave. He observes that this truth is rarely preached in American pulpits. Why is this so? Here are my thoughts.

     When we hear the word slavery, our minds hearken back to the tragic slave trade that Europe and America engaged in for a long time, a practice that have demeaned groups of people, making them property instead of human beings who has inherent dignity as creatures made in the image of God. Slavery still exists in our world today, sometimes in the form of sexual slavery, where girls and women are sold as objects to satisfy the lusts of men. We rightly see slavery today as a social ill that needs to be corrected. 

     Another reason I believe that there is an aversion to the word "slave" is our respect for individual rights. Although it is good to respect individual rights, I believe it has taken a ridiculous and dangerous turn. The forces of political correctness seek to silence voices that criticize their favored people's lifestyles and beliefs. Tolerance has become so much of a value that if some people get their way, we will have a world where every lifestyle or belief will be acceptable, and criticism will never be tolerated.

    The validation of the individual to the point of violating common sense is seen in some judge's decision to include international law in their judgments. They don't see the absurdity in this. A husband can legally say that it is fine to beat his wife because in his country's law, it is fine for a husband to beat his wife for some reasons. This reminds me of Star Trek where the explorers are told not to interfere with the practices of the creatures they will encounter. That makes some sense because they are outsiders coming into another environment. However, community standards have to be maintained to produce a peaceful and predictable environment. The outsider has to live within those standards. If we seek to have a society were women are valued as much as men, we cannot tolerate men beating their wives, sisters, or daughters, even though it is tolerated in their society. If we do, then we might as well have no standards, then we create a chaotic and unpredictable community, a community not fit for human beings.

     The slave surrenders his hopes and dreams and lifestyle, and everything to his master. It is tragic when humans are forced to surrender himself completely to another. However, in reality, we are all slaves to something or someone. We make decisions based on what is important to us at the moment. In a way, slaves are not really slaves to their masters. They may be prevented from escaping by the master's threat of death. The slave thinks of his life as the most important thing, therefore, he will not leave his master.

     What does this whole discussion have to do with being a slave of Christ? If the Christian is a slave, then he is owned by Christ- his hopes, his dreams, his lifestyle, his mind, his body, etc. This goes beyond being considerate or cooperative (mutual submission), where a person is free to maintain disagreement while walking or living life with the other. This kind of surrender cannot be done by human effort. We can look obedient to Christ (not cheating on a spouse) but our heart may not be conformed to Christ (being unforgiving towards a spouse). All of us (hearts, minds, bodies) have a tendency to rebel against God's standards. We may fool the world but God knows what is inside of us.

    Christian faith requires the Christian to be conformed to the mind and heart of Christ. Only God the Holy Spirit can transform everything in the Christian to be conformed to Christ. He works in the Christian to overcome the sinful tendencies within him. The Christian prays, "Lord, I don't have the same mind and heart as you do, please transform my mind and heart so it will be conformed to your mind and heart."