we all are slaves

whether we like it or not, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not (funny how real truth isn't impacted by our petty opinions), we all serve something. you do. i do. no matter our faith or lack of, no matter where that faith is placed, we all spend every moment of our lives serving something... or someone. now, to be sure, for some of us this is more apparent than others. certainly for the child sold into the sex trade in some not-so-far-off country, we say, "yes, that's slavery." even for the man or woman in the west who has a job and lives worse than paycheck to paycheck, barely scraping by, working for a ruthless employer in miserable conditions, we can maybe feel a pang of sorrow and say (though not so accurately), "that's almost slavery." but that's not what i'm talking about so much. we all are slaves beyond our physical circumstances. that is not to say that we can't be enslaved by our physical circumstances (just talk to any recovering addict). but now i'm getting ahead of myself.

i understand that many people have different beliefs even in the christian faith about the spiritual realm and so i want to speak as simply and generically as possible, but all the same please try to overlook what you may perceive as errant doctrinal matters for the sake of my overall point. i was in toronto, canada, for a few days recently as part of a conference of missions agencies. on the last evening of the conference, after the final meeting had ended, i and the rest of the team i was with came into an encounter with a non-christian woman who is demonized. for the next few hours, seven of us talked to, prayed for, and otherwise did what we could to free this woman from the evil spirit(s) that plague her (not that it would have been by our power, but rather by God's). in her moments of lucidity, we asked this woman time and time again whether she wanted the physical, mental, and spiritual torment being inflicted upon her by these demons to stop. each time, she refused to answer the question directly and a few times stated, "i feel like i should just go with it and let it run its course." as she left that place in the early hours of the morning still demonized, i was overcome with a great deal of sadness, thinking i was not able to understand why someone would - when given the choice - willingly choose to stay under such a yoke of slavery.

unfortunately, though, i think maybe i can understand - though i wish i couldn't. what about the young man who feels his race and culture have been so oppressed that bitterness takes root in such a way that the bitterness itself moves from being simply a driving force to become a part of that young man's identity? what about the addict (choose your poison - drugs, food, sex, etc.) who finally gives in to his craving to the same degree... that this addiction becomes a part of his identity?

or, how about we bring this maybe closer to home for most of the western culture - what about the man that lives out his days in the middle-to-upper middle class playing the subconscious game of keeping up with the joneses... or maybe instead simply chasing the life of comfortable living, with its nagging perpetual need to up the comfort level by obtaining and doing more and/or different things to a point where the level of comfort in this man's lifestyle becomes a part of his identity? oh, this one is tricky, because it so easily masks itself within community, because it so easily justifies itself under the guise of provision or creating the "best" life possible for one's family (see "our limited view" entry).

the similarity i see in all of these is that each one is a form of slavery. no one is free in this lifetime from making choices how we expend the resources we've been given - whether that be money, time, talent, etc. within each of those choices is a decision to sacrifice one thing for another. a sort of over-arching economy of life. whatever we sacrifice to... i suppose that is what we are serving, isn't it? when does serving become slavery? i'm thinking out loud here, but i think it has to do with identity. once we derive our identity from - whether consciously or simply by repeated demonstrated loyalty to - something, we are a slave to it. i think the identity part of the equation is important because our identity is so hard to break from. it means throwing away who we are, who we believe we are, what we can rely on in ourselves. our identity gives us a basis from which to make decisions - critical life-changing decisions all the way down to what-do-i-want-for-breakfast decisions. to be rid of that identity is painful... to be said in a more frightening manner, to be rid of that identity is unsure and uncomfortable. and comfort has tremendous power.

i don't know, but i wonder if the demonized woman would not "come out of agreement with" her tormentors because - despite the pain and confusion and fear they caused - it was yet a pain and confusion and fear she knew. that she was "comfortable" with (strictly speaking just as far as it was a known quantity for her). that she - for hopefully the short term - takes as part of her identity.

in the Bible, paul speaks about a slavery in a few different ways. i think it's interesting, though, that although paul describes christians as being free from a "yoke of slavery" - whether to sin or to religious laws, he also describes christians being slaves of Christ. we all are slaves.

so what is your identity? who or what are you enslaved by? it need not be a negative term - who or what do you want to be enslaved by?

and, speaking of slaves: www.freetheslaves.net