Stewardship of Self

Stewards of self

A mentor who influenced me greatly often repeated, “We all want to be saved from sin because we don’t want to go to hell. But, we put up quite a fight resisting the Lord’s insistence to being saved from ourselves.” The great battlefield of the world is not geographic, but is the arena of struggle between my ears and between my elbows, the places where I decide who is in charge.

No one is more vulnerable than the person who is unable to control self. “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.” (Proverbs 25:28) In short, the person without self-discipline is open to attack on every side. In contrast, no one is more valuable than the one who knows how to say “no” to self and “yes” to Jesus. Self-controlled people make the best employees, never using a bit of fatigue, a dose of laziness, or lurking flu bug to interrupt their reputation for being reliable and industrious. Self-controlled church members are able to allow others to be who they are without losing their own passion and fervor for following Jesus.

The hedonism of our culture cries out demanding privilege and entitlement. In direct contrast, the call of Jesus is, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23) The collision between hedonistic demands and Jesus’ entry level requirement should not surprise us. Paul wrote to his prodigy, “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self–control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God ...” (2 Timothy 3:1-4)

I have concluded –
• There is no way to baptize world values, immersing them into murky waters of ambivalence. There isn’t even any basis for beginning the conversation as there are no values held in common.. The world says, “Me first!” Jesus says, “Deny yourself.”
• As cultures naturally slip downward ethically, morally, and spiritually, the differences between the society and Jesus’ disciples escalate. The people of God invariably become the object of scorn, ridicule, and blame. Historically, as the struggles between culture and Biblical truth intensified, Jesus’ disciples have often been martyred. While today’s focus is on protecting Judeo-Christian values in the culture, courts, and congress, we might serve one another better by reinforcing each other in our resolve to follow Jesus at any cost.
• We ought to be alert to attempts to synthesize the world’s values with self-denial. We can begin the process by asking several questions. First, “Am I reading the Bible with an insight into the historical setting and empathy with the ‘first readers?’” The Bible is more Oriental than Western. We cannot speed read literature which was processed over centuries. It deserves greater attention and care. Some authors wrote from prison, served time as plitical prisoners, an faced martyrdom. Do we attempt to feel the passion required to write under adverse conditions? Second, “Am I worshiping Jesus, the Word which became flesh and lived among us so that we could know God’s glory?” (John 1) All have gods. But Jesus is an offense and stumbling block. (1 Corinthians 1) Is my preacher leading me to Jesus’ birth, death, resurrection, ascension and second coming? Or, am I presented a generic god? Third, “Am I making decisions with Jesus’ pleasure and approval as my first consideration?” Or, do I make decisions about time, money, activity, and attitudes which are acceptable in the world?
We are stewards of our selves, and self is wild, and can only be tamed as we yield to Jesus’ authority over us one decision and one moment at a time.