If I Were A Slave: A Tribute To My Redeemer and Ancestors (4)

Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin."  John 8:34

 

Now we come to the essence of slavery:  Ownership.

 

Who owns you?
Who defines you?
Who determines what you do?
Who is your master?

 

We as Americans, Christians and Non-Christians, like to think that we "are the masters of our fate;" we "are the captains of our souls."

 

But we don't realize that sin is a slave master.  We don't realize the heinousness of what we do when we sin. 

 

I'll show you.

 

Alex Haley wrote a book and did TV series called "Roots."  There is a scene in roots that is the very essence of this entire blog series for me.  It is the scene that I saw in high school that caused me to ask myself the question I presented to you:  If I were a slave, what would I do?  But more specifically, what would I do in Kunta Kinte's position?

 

If you've never watched this scene in Roots, it involves a African man named Kunta Kinte who is being whipped within an inch of his life.  Why? His master wants Kunta to renounce his name, to renounce the name Kunta Kinte and accept the name "Toby."  At the point of death, in answer to his master's question, "What is your name?" Kunta whispers, "Toby."  Chicken George, a slave and friend of Kunta, holds "Toby" after this severe beating and says, "You are still Kunta Kinte."  With tears Chicken George comforts Toby...

 

What would I have done in the same situation?  The Spirit led my mind to a time before my ancestors to the time of three Hebrew boys and a king named Nebuchadnezzar.  Israel was commanded to renounce their god and bow to Nebuchadnezzar.  Out of a nation, three refused to bow, even at the threat of being burned to death.  What was the difference between these three and Toby?

 

The Spirit took me to Peter, who said he would never deny Christ, never deny his Lord.  But he did three times.  Yet there came a time when Peter died the death of his master, hung upside down on a cross. 

 

This was a time when the early Christians were in the same position as Kunta, and the same as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego:  Renounce the name of Jesus, and bow to the name of Caesar.  Because in Rome it was declared, "Caesar is Lord."  But in the church it was proclaimed, "Jesus is Lord."  There cannot be two lords, two emperors, two kings. Christians must renounce Christ to live in Rome, or they will be crucified, eaten by lions, cut in half, burned at the stake.

 

Some, like Kunta, and like Peter, denied the name of their true Lord, and thus their own names. But others, like the three Hebrew boys, and later like Peter, accepted death instead of denying their Lord.

 

What made the difference?
What would have made the difference with me?

 

• Peter trusted in himself, in his own resolve to be faithful to Jesus.
• Kunta's focus was on his own name, so in the same way, he trusted in his strength.
• But the Hebrews trusted in the God of Israel, who could deliver them, but even if He didn't, God is God, not Nebuchadnezzar.
• And Peter, at his crucifixion, focused on the Lord whom He had seen risen and ascended.
• The early Christians who died in gladiator rings, on crosses, and on stakes of fire, focused on the one who died on the cross for them.
• The slaves who died instead of renouncing their names, focused on the truth:  God alone names you.

Naming is an act of ownership.  Jesus said sin enslaves.  So each and every time we sin, we renounce Jesus' name, and thus our names as Christians.  When we sin, we focus on ourselves and not on Jesus.

The first name we must renounce is our own self centered desire.  The name we never should renounce is the name of our true master:  Jesus Christ.  If we trust in His name of Christ alone, we will never lose our names as Christians to anyone.

What would I have done?
I don't know.






But what I hope I would have learned to read the scriptures, that I would have read about Peter's denial, and that I would have assumed that I would have done the same thing as Peter. 




I would hope to have asked Christ to help me not deny him as Peter did, to not renounce my name as Kunta did, but to be willing to die in a fire like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, rather than renounce the name of the one true God, my one true master, the only one with the right to name me. 






Peter's denial was a possibility.  So was Peter's death for his Lord at the end.
My denial of my name was a possibility.  So was my death instead of denial.




Jesus alone would have made the difference for me.


click HERE for part 5