A Misappropriated Identity

You may be wondering what a misappropriated identity is.  In fact the word just rolled off my brain and I too needed to define it!  Merriam Webster defines Misappropriate as "to take (something, such as money) dishonestly for your own use : to appropriate (something) wrongly."  Wow!  That is a fitting term for this subject, so let's dive right in.

How can a Christian, whose whole existence is subject to Christ's sovereign and absolute lordship, somehow supersede Christ's authority by putting His will on the back burner?  Let me distill that a bit...  How can I, who am a slave to Christ, neglect the will of God by some autonomy that I really do not have?

You may stumble over the word slave, but don't.  Slavery is the New Testament pattern for discipleship and there is no disputing it.  Among the several words for servant in Greek, only doulos (slave) is used in reference to our position as disciples under our Lord.  Being a slave to Christ never carries the negative connotation that our earthly view of slavery does, but it does entail the same submission to the master as is evidenced by the earthly abuses that invade our minds when the word is mentioned.  I take a particular liking to the words of Edwin Yamauchi,

"It means that we have been captured, beaten, and enslaved.  We discover however, that our captor is a Despot of love and mercy.  Neither is there anything slavish or servile about our slavehood, for we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but the spirit of adoption (Romans 8:15).  Nor has our reduction to slavery been a debasement or an abasement...  We have been elevated to serve in a heavenly court and have been invested with a higher nature.

...[It also] reminds us of our ransom from another master at an incredible price.  It was not with fabulous sums of all the royal estates we were bought, nor was it for handsome features or some prized skill we were purchased.  But rather unlovely, without any merit, rebellious at heart, we were redeemed with the precious blood of the Master Himself.

Having thus been bought by Christ we are entirely His."  

Because He purchased us by His blood, we are entirely His!  I have found that in my life, when I am most rebellious and sin seizes control of my life, I cry out "God!"  "God, forgive me!  Heal me!  Cleanse me!  God!"  My cries are aimed at Christ in heaven, but I have forgotten one thing, He is not only God, He is my Lord.  When I am disobedient, that word "Lord" always seems to escape my vocabulary.  He is my absolute master!  I am His subordinate!  In hindsight, obedience is easier when you realize where you stand on the totem pole in the first place.

That does not mean that the power of sin has stopped working in your flesh.  It just reminds us how we ought to crucify it!  Remember, no one can call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Spirit.  If such is the case, when Jesus is the absolute and sovereign Master of your life, the Holy Spirit is empowering you to put to death all of the sinful tendencies that once enslaved you to unrighteousness.  

That's what Paul reminded the Romans,

 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 

 -Romans 6:16-20

So let's not get lost here.  In position, we are indeed slaves to the absolute authority of our Master Jesus Christ.  What He says goes.  We are subject to His commands.  We hold Him in deep reverence.  So what happened?  Why do I see so many Christians floundering around, seeking the will of God?  Shouldn't instruction be clearly given by the Master?  Didn't Jesus say "You are My friends if you do what I command you.  No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you?" (John 15:14-15)  Jesus isn't saying that we are not slaves in relation to His authority, but He is saying that we are friends because He has instructed us with what the Master is doing. Traditionally, the master has no obligation in telling the slave anything beyond the given task.  Therefore, Jesus not only tasks us, but He has also made known the plan of Almighty God Himself.  

I can not spare myself from this criticism.  God has specifically tasked me for a particular ministry.  In recent years, my zeal for Him has cooled and I have become complacent.  Stricken with fear by the impetuous onslaught of sin all around me, I have since placed the will of God on the back burner.  I have taken up noble pursuits, but they have not been the divine commandment of discipleship.  We have all been commissioned and we are all held to a standard of obedience as outlined by Jesus and the entirety of Scripture.  We have no excuse, His will is ever before us.  Furthermore, as slaves, we have no right to overthrow God's rule in our life, we left those rights at the cross.  Our mandate is clear.  Our commission is set in stone.  As Christians, who have yielded our autonomy, we really ought not have the choice, but obedience and zeal toward the great commission is mandatory.  Do not allow your identity in Christ, which was purchased by His blood, to become misappropriated or embezzled to suit your selfish desires.  Christ is Lord, we are His slaves, and the reward of our slavehood is unfathomable.  It is Christ.  He is our reward.  Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness and God will add to us according to our every need.