Last night I was blessed with the opportunity to talk with one of my co-workers about Christ and the Bible. He had mentioned that he had been raised in a Christian home and growing up was not allowed to listen to "secular" music but instead had to content himself with the purgatory known as "Christian" music. I shared his sorrows with him, as I had a similar experience (although I couldn't even listen to contemporary "Christian" music, didn't miss much though, except getting to share the experience of feeling hardcore for Jesus while headbanging to Petra). I went on to ask him a little about his background. He had been raised in an evangelical missionary home and although he didnt seem to have any ill will towards his parents, he eventually walked away from the Christian scene as he apparently had some bad experiences. Now he lives by an ambigous code which he has concocted and basically boils down to, "life is about having fun". We talked for a long time about who Christ is and what He has done and the discussion would always come back to, "well that's great if it works for you." It seems I get that answer a lot when sharing the Gospel, especially with those of my generation. I've come to realize that before someone can clearly understand and accept/reject the Gospel, they have to be convinced of the existence of absolute truth (I'm speaking on a human level right now, of course no one will be saved unless God opens the dead eyes of their heart). So I asked Him, "Who or what is God to you?" He answered that everything is a part of God. I asked, "Even the fat, juicy, crap I just took a minute ago?" He answered, "Yes! of course!" My mind immediatly thought of Romans 1. We went on to talk about what defines truth. I told him that I believe that the Bible is the ultimate standard and definer of truth. When I said this his eyes lit up with a look of, "ah ha! now I've got ya!" Then he said to me, "so you let someone else make your opinions for you?" Expecting me to capitulate and admit he had shown me the crack in my belief system, he was shocked when I exclaimed, "exactly! That is my life's pursuit. To have my opinions shaped by the Mind, Person and Spirit of God as revealed in His Word. Why would I want to trust myself, the one who let's me and everybody else down on a daily basis, and I'm certainly not going to trust any other human source, their just as jacked up as I am. Why not trust the author and embodiment of truth." Unfortunately he did not agree, but I think the real issue was that he did not want to submit to a higher and binding authority. To admit that God is the definer of truth and His word is the expression of that truth, is to admit that one is not God. Ultimately we all have to serve somebody. Is that person going to be the Creator, Lord, and Beautiful Savior, Jesus Christ, the only one who deserves to be served? Or is it going to be someone less beautiful, less powerful, and less deserving like...anything or anybody else in the universe...including our broken and dying selves?
Pray for my coworker. Pray that I can love him in deed and truth. Pray that God breaths life into him.
You may be an ambassador to England or France,
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance,
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
You might be a rock 'n' roll addict prancing on the stage,
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage,
You may be a business man or some high degree thief,
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
You may be a state trooper, you might be a young Turk,
You may be the head of some big TV network,
You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame,
You may be living in another country under another name
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
You may be a construction worker working on a home,
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome,
You might own guns and you might even own tanks,
You might be somebody's landlord, you might even own banks
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride,
You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side,
You may be workin' in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair,
You may be somebody's mistress, may be somebody's heir
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
Might like to wear cotton, might like to wear silk,
Might like to drink whiskey, might like to drink milk,
You might like to eat caviar, you might like to eat bread,
You may be sleeping on the floor, sleeping in a king-sized bed
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy,
You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy,
You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray,
You may call me anything but no matter what you say
You're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody.
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
- Bob Dylan
by His Grace
for His Glory
jrf
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