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A New Song: Like an Avalanche by Hillsong United

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Hello, let me first say that I shall try to post weekly (as was originally intended!), but I'll be posting every Sunday instead of Friday from now on. Not that I think anyone actually noticed and followed the posts diligently every week...... Haha.

I've been reading this book called Slave by John MacArthur. (Because of my laziness haha,) allow me to use this Amazon book review to summarize what the book is about:

In his book "slave" John MacArthur uses a plethora of scripture to expose a "cover up" in the modern translations of the scripture. Retuning to the original languages and writing MacArthur shows how often the word slave is replaced by softer more autonomous phrases such as servant. While servant is a good word in does not convey the original message that scripture intended. To be a servant allows you to maintain a certain amount of uniqueness that allows me to be myself while still serving God. When I become a slave suddenly I am nothing but what my master wants me to be and that is all. This is a candid unapologetic look at our Identity in Christ and how we have allowed culture to dictate how nonchalantly we approach our life in Christ. This is a challenging book that is packed with scripture so the point has to be considered carefully. MacArthur asks you to view your life in Christ differently and transition from willing servant to sold out slave.

Basically, it talks about how the Greek word 'doulos' in the Bible has been mistranslated. In its original terms, it meant 'slave', but most of our English Bibles now translate it as 'servant' (as in, being a servant of God, or serving others, etc). Erase all your preconceived notions about slaves now. The 1st Century slaves were not what we think about slaves now, not the cruelty and chains and whips and whatnot. Slaves were very much a normal part of Greek/Roman culture, and it simply meant that the person belonged to a master, something like how cows and chickens belong to a farmer.

So when you compare a slave and a servant, the difference is that the servant still has some independence, whereas a slave wholly submits to a master. And that's what Jesus and the other Bible writers calls Christians to be: To belong completely to our Master. One part of the book says,

We have been bought with a price. We belong to Christ. We are part of a people for His own possession. And that understanding changes everything about us [our identity in Christ], starting with our perspective and our priorities.
True Christianity is not about adding Jesus to my life. Instead, it is about devoting myself completely to Him - submitting wholly to His will and seeking to please Him above all else. It demands dying to self and following the Master, no matter the cost. In other words, to be a Christian is to be Christ's slave.

Sound abit scary, eh? But when you think about it... It's something that we've known all along, that God wants us to give all of ourselves to Him. Maybe, because of that switch of words ('servant' instead of 'slave'), we see the sacrifices as options, and not commands. We complain, doubt, and distract ourselves, instead of obeying God and carry out the wishes of our Master. God calls us to be the faithful servant (or slave) because we have been bought with a price. Like slaves (as we know it), we have been bought over from the slave trader into God's possession with Jesus' blood on the cross. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

Think about it. The New Testament repeatedly talks about how we cannot serve 2 masters, and that "now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life." (Romans 6:22) What does this mean for you as a Christian? Are there priorities that need to be realigned? Does this change your attitude towards 'serving God'? And most importantly, are you willing to make the sacrifices that comes along with following Christ?And if you are, this song is for you:

Take my life / Take all that I am / With all that I am / I will love You

Take my heart / Take all that I have / Jesus how I adore You

And I find myself here on my knees again

Caught up in grace like an avalanche

Nothing compares to this love, love, love

Labels: A New Song, Christian Life, Serving

yapning

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3 Comments:

Thxx Ning! (:
Beautiful sharing and song, a wake-up to truly live as christians (christ's slave). Just wanna share something tt I've heard b4, in bible time's context, being a slave is not like those torture stuff like you said hahahahas, it's not like sg maids trying to earn $$ n serving you unwillingly. When they r slaves, the only purpose of their lives is for the good of the master, so is not must whip n stuff then they will go work. In a normal relationship, slaves desire to work for the good of the master. Hope that's something additional that we can ponder abt with regards to our relationship with our Master!

By yingjie, at September 23, 2012 at 7:31 PM

*wake-up call

By yingjie, at September 23, 2012 at 7:33 PM

Thanks YJ for the comment! Yep that's right, 'slaves' as defined in the 1st Century AD in Roman times was definitely not all about torture, but rather submitting to their masters. And another point to note (which I forgot to add in) was that slaves didn't really have a bad life all the time because they were provided with life's necessities like food, clothes & shelter.
Just like how God is our Provider. Hmmmmmmmm.

By yapning, at September 23, 2012 at 10:01 PM