I am reading a book by John Ortberg called Soul Keeping. Ortberg correctly insists
that the human soul, that critical part of our inward being, requires a center.
We get to choose what we center our soul upon. Bob Dylan said it right years
ago in the song, “You Got to Serve Somebody.” Dylan sang that it may be the
Devil, or it may be the Lord, but you are going to serve somebody. There are
only the two choices. Anything that is not of God is of the Devil, God’s
arch-enemy. There are things like alcohol or video games that are not evil in
and of themselves, but when you make them the center of your life, that thing
becomes evil, an idol to use Bible language, and everyone knows idolatry is a
bad thing.
There are other ways to become imprisoned besides falling
into sin or idolatry. It is quite easy to become enslaved by unhealthy
attitudes, or stinkin’ thinkin’ as someone once called it. If you were raised
by an abusive father or were without a father, for example, you may reject the
idea of a good Heavenly Father. Your whole perception of who God is can become
bound by your earthly experience. This leaves you outside of His adopted family
and His gracious provision.
In the same way, you could be imprisoned by wrong thinking
because you were raised in a home where God was discounted, and the philosophies
of the world were embraced. This is easy to understand since it was the goal of
Darwin and his many disciples to provide the theory of evolution as a way to
escape human responsibility to the Creator. Most of us absorbed evolutionary
thinking without realizing what it meant.
There are also those who may actually be Christians,
believers, who allow themselves to be bound by belief systems that are not
Biblical. Paul is especially hard on the people in Galatia, calling them
foolish for abandoning the freedom of the Gospel of Christ and falling back
into the bondage of salvation by works. (Galatians 3:1-4) This predicament is
not unique to Jews. Many believers will assert that they are acceptable to God
because they have lived a good life. These people are bound by the false
assumption that God loves them because of what they do rather than whom they
serve. This kind of thinking can make every day a struggle to be good enough.
Another sort of bondage is related to the idea of salvation
by works. You may feel that you are not worthy to be loved by God.
Psychologists refer to this as a poor self-image. This attitude highlights one
of the strange paradoxes of the Christian faith. It is true that no one is
worthy of God’s favor, yet He grants it to all who come to Jesus in faith. You
don’t have to clean yourself up to present your life to God; while you were
dead in sin and disobedient, Christ came to give you life. (Ephesians 2:1-5) The
only people God can save are those who realize they are unworthy. You must nail
your broken self on the cross of Jesus and give it up. That act initiates a
transaction where your unrighteousness is traded for the righteousness of
Jesus, God’ Son. (Romans 4:22-24) That act also qualifies you for adoption into
the Family of God, otherwise known as the Church or Christ’s Body. (Ephesians
1:5)
A prison made of bricks and bars is an awful place. But even
a person who is behind bars can become free in the most important way, by
giving his life to Christ and gaining eternal freedom in Him. Conversely, a
person who is walking freely about the world can be imprisoned by many things
worse than bricks and bars. Paul reminded the wayward Galatians, “It is for
freedom that Christ has set you free.” (5:1) I recommend that you do a “gut
check” or perhaps it should be called a soul check. Are you “free indeed,” as
Christ promised (John 8:36), or have you allowed something to enslave you. God
opens prison doors; you have only to ask.
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