“They also rule over our bodies and over our cattle as they please, so we are in great distress” Nehemiah 9:37“And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” Isaiah 39:7
Y’all remember the miniseries “Roots”? Remember these lines from Roots? “The massa may take my body, but he can't touch my spirit. When they bought you, you just gave them your soul for free!” I have been thinking about these lines on and off over the decades. My interest is not merely in the remarkable ability of some of our ancestors and ancestresses to maintain their internal integrity under intense pressure. I also extrapolate their experiences in the hostile and almost unbearable environment of bondage to the experience of being a Christian in this world.
We Christians find ourselves in a system which has claims as well as outward authority over us. The challenge is to keep the spirit i.e. the heart intact, while submitting to legitimate claims and authority. The blessed Lord himself said to Pilate, the roman governor who presided over his trial and ordered his execution “You would not have any power or authority whatsoever over me if it were not given you from above”. The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Rome at a time when Nero was Emperor: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God” Romans 13:1.
Daniel and the three Hebrew young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego experienced what it meant to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. They experienced others ruling over their bodies…they literally belonged to their captors. Yet they served the king with integrity and respect. Daniel served through at least three administrations of heathen kings. Were they wimps and “uncle toms”? Well now, wimps and uncle toms do not remain steadfast in the face of the blazing furnace, or the den of lions. It’s amazing how the meaning of “courage” has changed. Speaking disrespectfully of authorities and stockpiling weapons has replaced the good confession: “O king we will not bow to your Idol”. Big talk has replaced the firmness in testimony which remains steadfast when faced with the reality of being thrown into the den of lions immediately!
I have been thinking of the place of the Christian, living in this world but not being of it... the inevitable tension between the pull of two worlds, between heaven and earth, between this present evil age and the age to come! The Christian is called to be law-abiding but needing to know when to “obey God rather than man”; to always be meek, but courageous when the time and circumstances calls for it! Daniel experienced this tension, as did Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Esther and Mordecai. They were able to stand for God amid the pagans without bluster, bombast, slander or revolt.
I think about this paradox of living in two worlds, this managing of the claims of both while knowing which one has first claim. This exercise comes to the surface, particularly regarding one of the more noble claims of the world system, the claim of patriotism! Next to motherly love or love of family, love of country ranks high on the ladder of human nobility. Few are despised as much as those who love not the motherland or fatherland! But we Christians serve our “only Lord and master” Jude 4, and he deserves and demands first place in our hearts. His claims must come before the claims of my country. We seek his country, a better country, heaven itself. We also have a Divine father who is in heaven and who allows the rain to fall on the good as well as the bad. His love goes out to all people in the world, not just my country or my race or my language!
Yet the country I live in has legitimate claims on me. I submit to its claims, but I will not give my soul to my country. I freely give respect to the authorities and I obey the laws and pay the taxes (sometimes reluctantly) but they don’t own the allegiance of my affections; I will not give them my heart. If I was in the armed forces (thank God I am now too old to be drafted or conscripted) I would give them my courage, skills and loyalty. However, that secret compartment where my heart’s affections are stored will be kept from them!
With all of this said, I pray “lead me not into temptation” with regards to these important lessons from the institution of slavery...
Makiliwè Colin Younge
February 12, 2013