The things you do and think about at 05:07 in a bus station waiting for rides is amazing. For those that don’t use military time, it’s 5:07am in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
Anyway, on to my thought. One of the sayings that is pretty common on my squad is “Be Free”. It has many uses, but it’s used most often when someone doesn’t know what they want to do, and is not doing something because they don’t want to appear ignorant.
For a while, I struggled with not know what was meant by that phrase. I felt that I was already pretty open, but had several people tell me to “be free” multiple times. In Cambodia, it finally made more sense, but I also found it a struggle this month as well. Here is what I found in Scripture to help me understand.
In Mark, Son mentions that the Pharisees “have let go of the commands of G0d and are holding on to human traditions.” (7:8) This was what I was doing, and still am doing. I have grown up as a follower, and have always known the “right” way of doing things. This journey is challenging everything I thought I knew. Even little things, like feeling like I’m making “forward progress”, are based on the standards of the American church. What if all our traditions are just human, and none of them are what Father really wants? Could we be getting things all wrong? Search for yourself, and see what he says to you. In order to truly “be free”, I need to look at all these cultural beliefs and traditions to see if they really should even be part of my life.
After concluding the above, I now struggle to figure out how to then live under the commands of Father, testing the traditions I hold. Peter writes for us to “live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.” (1 Peter 2:16) He goes on to tell us how to live as Father’s slaves. “Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, and honor the emperor.” (v17) These are all very vague concepts to grasp. I will definitely be looking farther into these ideas in the near future.
Another issue I’ve been wrestling with is how to let go of the human traditions when I find them. Because not all traditions are necessary bad, do I need to let go of them, or just hold them loosely? Should I even bother removing them? I have realized it’s not about necessary letting go of everything, learning to discern what is holding me captive and what is just there as another thing to get done. 2 Peter 2:19 says, “People are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” Some of the traditions that have control of me may be ones of which I need to let go. Others may be from the Father and they should be kept. It will be about discernment now, and what Father tells me to cut off and keep. I am his disciple and slave, so what does he want me to do?
#redefiningdisciple #GodIsInControl
