Not My Own

Matthew 5:38-48; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

We live in a world of ownership and personal rights. Mine, ours, yours, and theirs are words of enormous meaning in our society. Amid so many claims of rights and possession, the Bible calls us to consider a different definition of ownership. What do we truly own? What right do I have to call something my own?

Paul’s words in 1^st Corinthians seem to tell us we have a choice to make. There are many things we might “get by with” in life, but Paul raises a warning note about living under that mindset. Faced with issues of legalism, the Corinthian believers had taken an extreme reaction towards freedom. They had gone so far as to abandon all sense of responsibility for their actions. Freedom in Christ had become license to do as they pleased. Paul calls their hand with a not so gentle reminder that freedom in Christ is not freedom to do as we please. It is freedom to do as pleases God.

Jesus addressed another aspect of this issue in the Sermon on the Mount. In dealing with issue of revenge, Jesus takes us much further than the constraints of Mosaic Law. Revenge is based on self-assertion and self-importance. Revenge is about asserting my rights as having been violated—declaring my worth and value as attacked by another. Revenge seeks to rebuild my sense of worth, dignity, and power by degrading one who has hurt me. If I do not protect my rights, who will? Revenge says, “It is my right to force you to treat me with dignity and respect.” “I have rights!” Jesus’ words bring that house of cards crashing down. Jesus asserts, rather, that I have no personal rights to protect. I only have responsibilities to fulfill.

What kind of teaching is that? Are these the words of some madman? Does Jesus desire to compel us to renounce personal rights and privileges to the whim of meanest bully around? We live in a country founded on the principles of individual rights. Jesus’ words sound like treason to all America holds dear! He can’t be serious!

Jesus’ words are simply all too clear. Perhaps they are too direct. Maybe that is why we rush by them too quickly, so as to somehow escape their meaning. They definitely are not to be taken at face value, for that would fly in the face of the premises of American society. Oh, sure, we might let go of personal revenge, as we can allow the proper authorities to enforce respect for our rights. Somehow, that still does not measure up to Jesus’ words. So what do we do with them?

Paul heard Jesus’ words correctly. He says, “We are not our own. We were bought at a price.” I don’t particularly like the image behind Paul’s words. He speaks as though we were mere slaves on the auction block--human chattel, sold without respect to rights, privilege, or self-determination. What about my “inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?” Weren’t those granted to all people by the Creator? We may hold these “truths to be self-evident,” but they do not seem to resonate too well with Jesus and Paul. They may stand to protect the rights of others, but not their own.

Paul places little emphasis on personal rights. He stresses personal responsibility instead. “You are not your own. You were purchased at a price.” That said, we now are responsible to our Master and Lord. Slavery to Christ was not an “end all, be all” image for Paul, but it set the stage for grasping the import of Christian responsibility and stewardship. God’s grace and love do not cancel the weight of our responsibility to serve as faithful stewards.

Jesus’ words on revenge cancel out any sense of self-protection and self-service. He calls us not to simply state that our lives and possessions belong to God. He asks us to live as though the needs and desires of others matter more than our own. He asks us to live as though we had no possessions or rights to protect. He asks us to model God’s standard of loving and giving. God gives to good and bad alike. God does not measure a person’s worthiness to receive. God simply gives. Jesus raises the bar on what is an acceptable standard of giving.

He is the standard.

We are not our own. Paul says that must affect our morality. It must affect the way we meet the needs of others. It must affect the way we show love and hospitality. Jesus said it must affect the way we greet people. It must take us to those we might consider unlovely or unworthy of our time, energy, and resources. It means removing the distance and barriers between ourselves and the people around us who we don’t know.

I am not my own. I am not the center of the universe. The world does not revolve around me. I am a servant of Christ Jesus. I am a steward of God’s blessings. They are not my own. They are for God’s use.

What happened to my inalienable rights? They were never mine. What happened to God’s inalienable rights? Are those the ones we have tried to take over for ourselves?

Our society thinks much more of self than it ought. It thinks too little of God. It is time to place it all in the proper perspective of the gospel. Jesus’ words are not those of a raving lunatic. They are the words of one who recognizes God’s lordship and ownership over all things, including material possessions and life itself. They are the words of one recognizing that love is not about protecting self, but about serving others. If we should become truly serious about serving God as faithful stewards of God’s gifts, we would not need to fret so much about our own petty issues.

Paul’s words were not empty foolishness. They were words that he lived. They were the very description of his own attitudes and action of service to Christ. He did not concern himself with his rights and freedom as with his opportunity to serve the Christ he called Lord. Grace for Paul became freedom to serve God as a thankful servant. Paul was not his own master. Jesus did not live as his own master. They both recognized the all-consuming need to serve God at whatever the cost.

Why is it so hard to give up my sense of rights and ownership over my life, and possessions, and rights? Why is it so difficult to accept the lordship of Christ Jesus? Do I not trust God to care for my needs? Do I not believe that God desires what is best for me? Why do the words “mine” and “ours” take such prominence in life? This life is not my own. Nothing is my own, except my sin. When shall I learn to be a steward of God’s blessings? Until I accept God’s complete ownership over my life, I have yet to understand and live the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do I have the courage to accept God’s inalienable rights over my life? It is not my own.

—©Copyright 2006 Christopher B. Harbin

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