If there is one thing we’ve seen from this week’s exploration of how following Jesus “resets” our views of sex and marriage, it is that we have a choice. Like the Corinthians, we have the physical abilities, biological urge, and even the legal right to engage in whatever sexual activities we can dream up…with very few exceptions, and sometimes even without immediate consequences. In our society today, no one can really stop you – you essentially have the right to do what you want.
But Paul was writing to the Corinthian Christians, those who have chosen to follow Jesus and allow him to “reset” their entire lives. They have intentionally chosen to live in God’s kingdom and enjoy its rights, rather than the kingdom of this world and its rights. He wants them and us to see that although we can do almost anything legally in this world, it doesn’t mean we should. It may be lawful in our world, but it isn’t good for us in God’s kingdom. Unlimited sexuality may satisfy a biological urge, but we are more than bodies, we are made in the image of God. We are made for much more than what the Corinthians, or many of us, are settling for while separated from God.
But for now, here are some good questions for us all to consider – if you have commited to this journey, or are willing to give it a try – you will have to leave some rights behind, in order to gain all that God offers his children. What is it for you, that you will grieve leaving behind? Or if you’ve been practicing the kingdom for a time, what old way of life do you keep returning to, try as you may? As Paul puts it, what do you need to flee from, in order to be fully free to experience the fullness of life as God intended it? Yes, flee. The false god of sex outside God’s “containers” can get such a hold on us, we actually have to run away from it, as we run towards Jesus. Some baggage can’t come with us, but must be fled.
Chances are there is a sexual dimension to all our brokenness, where we fall short of God’s real plans for us and our lives. The solution is not to try harder, be better, etc. but to flee – to leave this world with its rights that may be legal in our society but are ultimately destructive in God’s. Christians set out on a journey with Jesus to the kingdom of God…where we put him at the center of our lives, and start practicing, over time and effort and failure, listening to his guidance in scripture and allowing him to reshape us into what he created us to be in the first place, both our bodies and souls. To do that, you have to flee something, but God promises the destination, even the journey, are far better than we could ever imagine.
Challenge: Consider, and discuss with your spouse if married, or a loved one, what sexual brokenness you’ll need to “flee” in order to travel together towards God’s kingdom.
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A friend of mine had a baby recently – and her husband took a week or so off before heading back to work. I asked him how it was going.
He said, work is alright, but it’s different now . I just don’t find it matters as much as it used to. I won’t quit or anything, but it just seems less important to me.
True enough. My friend still needs to work, but there is a new member of his family who is far more important than every possible promotion, raise or accolade.
We all need this kind of shift in perspective – not by all going and having a kid – but by inviting God to be at the center of our lives.
When there is no ultimate goal or concern in our lives, or that varies day to day, or simply becomes whatever is most urgent, busyness consumes us. We can’t stop it or get away from it.
If God is the ultimate center of our lives, then everything else falls into place around Him. James, who we interviewed a couple weeks ago was consumed by the lifestyle his lucrative career could buy, and lost himself. In the end, he quit, took a break, and eventually came back – but able to see that work wasn’t everything. You can watch the video again by clicking "Extra" or here: https://vimeo.com/72458543
He and my friend with the baby both realized they were enslaved to their work, sometimes without even realizing it.
This kind of slavery to work is something God wanted to prevent Israel from ever experiencing again, or inflicting on anyone else. In Deuteronomy 15:1-2 and Deuteronomy 15:12-15:
“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor.”
“If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.
We’ve heard a lot about the Sabbath day so far, but this introduces the idea of the Sabbath year where Israel was meant to release every debt, and release every person who was so indebted they had sold themselves into slavery.
Why? Because God had released their nation from slavery, and this would be a constant reminder. Every week, a day off, and every 6 years, a year off for crops and for the lowest servants. This would be a clear sign they were not worshipping work, but worshipping God.
That same act of liberation needs to be in our rest. We need to tell ourselves we are resting to prove we are not slaves to our employers, to our bank accounts, to our pride or anything else. We are children of God, not defined by work.
There is more to me than my work.
This inner shift has to come before we try making outer, structural changes to our weeks and years, like we’ll discuss next week.
Question: What would it take for you to see your work differently? What could change for a year, or what life event, would break the cycle?
