“You, my brothers/sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” Galatians 5:13
Over the next while we will be looking at the wonderful passage at the end of Galatians that talks about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian. You might want to read chapter five to get an overview of where we’re headed.
In this chapter, Paul is in the middle of an argument for spiritual freedom through salvation rather than ‘Jesus plus’ adherence to Old Testament law – specifically circumcision. We are living in the new covenant of grace, so don’t go back to law, which was never enough anyway to deal with our core sin question. We all have a bent to think we can somehow earn our salvation. In this he is challenging the legalistic Christian.
But then he moves in our passage today to the other end of the spectrum – the Christian who says – “I’m saved by grace so now I can behave however I want” – this person is the libertine.
The second stance is in keeping with the current approach in wider North American culture. The freer we become from convention, the more self-centered we are – it’s now about individual rights rather than the good of the whole. I was at a Chilliwack Chiefs hockey game last winter and saw a boy about 11 years old with large pink ear protection and sporting a three-foot-long plastic trumpet. Isn’t this the way – I have a right to quiet but you have to put up with my noise! When the local church operates on this kind of cultural modus operandi – grabbing for our piece of the pie, the church looks pretty ugly. Alan Simpson is a Christian mediator for local churches. He said: “When the bylaws come out, love has left the room.”
Paul takes a turn in his argument to these Galatian congregants. Between the legalist and the libertine is the lover of Christ – this is where we are to park. In our freedom, the welfare of others becomes our concern. Interestingly, the root of the word ‘serve’ is the Greek word ‘doulos’ which means ‘slave.’ We willingly set our rights aside to serve other people in Christ’s name. This is authentic agape love in action, and when a church practices this, it is a little oasis in a cultural miasma of ‘me first!!’
How many times have I seen Christians give and serve generously to a situation that will not provide anything for themselves personally but will bless a person or group in need. That’s one reason why we emphasize service to others through our church life – it raises our head beyond our own little situation and helps us see people as Jesus sees them.
So, the question to you today is – what am I doing with my freedom from the law to serve others in Christ’s name?
Augustine said: “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has the eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.”
Pastor Leon Throness
