Sacrifice - part 2

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)

Yesterday I took a hard look at many of my preconceptions about this word sacrifice. I did not progress very far into what might be right or wrong about those ideas and I really didn't have a lot resolved in my own mind. It was basically a question that I left open for God to continue to communicate with me about as He chooses. I realize that this understanding is not going to be conclusive, possibly at any point in my life on earth. But I also need to face it and mature in my perceptions so that I can better understand what God wants me perceive whenever this word is used.

There are two descriptive words used ahead of this word here in this passage that indicate some important aspects about the kind of sacrifice that is acceptable to God. In contrast to most of the typical sacrifices of the Old Testament times, my body is to be alive as it is presented to God as a sacrifice. In addition this verse says that this sacrifice is also supposed to be holy. That is not so much in contrast with the Old Testament sacrifices but is more in line with them. In fact, if the sacrifices were not considered holy they were an affront to God and were not acceptable just as Cain's sacrifice was not acceptable.

I also see that the next verse is really an expansion of the description of what God is wanting in our sacrifice. He is not looking for a body and mind (which is definitely part of our body) that is conformed to this world or squeezed into its mold, but He desires a body and mind that are renewed and transformed by the presence and work of His own grace. This sacrifice is somehow to reveal or prove what the true will of God is. That would implicate that God wants to reveal the truth about Himself through not just our transformed spirits but also through our bodies so that others may catch a small glimpse of the attractiveness of God.

We usually think of the will of God as mostly an intellectual set of ideas or beliefs or an external set of standards to which we must conform. We often wonder what the will of God is for our life in reference to what we are supposed to do, to say, where we are supposed to work, our life occupation, etc. As regards to our bodies there are many who have very definite and restrictive beliefs about what our clothes should look like and what we should eat and not eat. They often become very dogmatic about these ideas and tend to often feel subconsciously more pious or holy than those who do not share their rigid lifestyle, though that is not always the case. Is that the kind of will that we are supposed to prove through the sacrifice of our bodies?

Given past experience with people like this I find it pointless to discuss this matter very much, at least directly with them. Too many of them are so emphatic about their strict beliefs and strivings for holiness that my spirit tends to withdraw and feel repulsed by the spirit I sense coming from many of them. On the other hand, I don't think that it is wise or safe to ignore God's will for how we look, dress or eat. All of these things have a great impact on our ability to commune with God and function in this world and they also have a great impact on how other's perceive God in our lives. But the spirit in which these things are done is so far more important than the actions or beliefs themselves. Unfortunately the net effect is often the very opposite of what the person intended to convey. This is because their picture of God is so stern or distorted that their lifestyle and appearance becomes repulsive to others about God instead of attractive for Him.

These things often become a means used to judge others who do not look like or agree with our particular way of living, eating or dressing. This too is a spirit that poisons our witness for God and really is counteractive to this verse's instruction to have a living sacrifice, one that is really, truly alive and thriving instead of tainted with the poison of bitter roots. The example of Jesus was one of being so fully alive that many of the common people and “regular sinners” were unavoidably attracted to Him which seems almost bizarre given their usual repulsion by people claiming to represent Him today. Jesus not only gave His own body as a sacrifice on the cross but was a living sacrifice all of His life here on earth. And He is the one who declared:

"Are you still lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man...." (Matthew 15:16-20)

As I continue to ponder what the real meaning of sacrifice might be, it seems evident that whatever it means it involves releasing our grip on something we value or cherish, whether it be good or bad. It involves letting go of our rights to ourselves which is usually terrifying. It strikes at the very center of sin in our hearts which is the basic ingredient of selfishness. To sacrifice means to relinquish control, and we are usually desperate to remain in control to some extent or another. Letting go of control is synonymous with dying in our subconscious mind and our natural instinct is to keep ourselves alive at all costs – survival.

However, I think it is important to note here that letting go of control or giving up our opinions, as important as that is to finding true freedom, is not synonymous with turning over control of our minds and wills or bodies to that of another human being, no matter how righteous or wise they may appear to be. God expects every person to be personally accountable to Him first of all and He does not excuse us to allow anyone else to be responsible for the decisions of our heart. We should never abdicate our personal responsibility for our character growth or even our search for truth to any other human. That is to put them in the place of God and to make them a false god in our lives. No one has any right to impose that kind of relationship on us just as we have no right to give it to them. It is to God and God alone that we are to surrender our sovereignty and rights and opinions for He is the only one who knows what is true and best for our unique hearts and circumstances.

I think of the example of Isaac when Abraham took him up on Mount Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice on an altar. Isaac could have easily rejected Abraham's explanation and could have escaped to preserve his own life. But he willingly cooperated and laid down his own life in respect and love for his father who was so emotionally torn and devastated by this confusing command by God. There is a lot of things to learn from this story, many of which are misunderstood by most people. But the point I want to relate to here is the willingness of Isaac to relinquish his rights and control over his own life in trust for his father and his father's God.

There are times that I suppose we can say that giving up bad habits or cherished attachments that will prevent us from bonding properly to our God can be called sacrifices. But they seem to be somewhat different in nature to other things that we are asked to sacrifice, or maybe I'm wrong on this and haven't thought it through completely yet. Sacrifices when viewed in the light of the bigger picture of eternity usually become something very different in our minds when compared with the enormous benefits received as a result of our willingness to relinquish them. But most of the time we fail to see or believe in the benefits as much as we want to remain attached to what we presently enjoy. It takes faith to trust in a God we don't know very well yet to somehow work things out for our good down the road when we believe we already have something that makes us feel good right now. But dying to self is part of the core message of Jesus to all those who wish to have real, abundant life for eternity.

I believe that it is a mistake to try to define sacrifice using external terms most of the time. That is what has created so much confusion in my heart about this issue and plays into the problems of external-oriented religion that insists on ever-increasing lists and definitions that can be tangibly identified, quantified and categorized. It seems increasingly clear to me that this word sacrifice may have much more to do with describing an event in the spirit much more that its resultant effects in the external world. And the spirit can never be created or induced by working on the externals to produce the symptoms.

But that brings to light the fact that there is a counterfeit spirit that promotes itself as the true spirit of sacrifice. And maybe it is because I am so much more familiar with the counterfeit than I am the genuine that I have so much inner turmoil about this word. The counterfeit is often mingled with a spirit of force, sternness, and deprivation. It is a negative spirit purporting to be the Spirit of Jesus but does not reflect the sweetness and faith of Jesus very much at all. It is the spirit commonly found in religion and human piety but has a darkness to it that makes one feel deprived and gloomy in an unconscious attempt to placate a demanding God. It is not often recognized in such strong outlines but that is the emotions that are aroused when I try to remember this kind of sacrifice.

The counterfeit also often involves impositions onto the lives of others in a desire to control them. We sometimes demand sacrifices in the lives of others under our influence in a misguided belief that it will produce the spirit of true sacrifice in their hearts. But what really happens is that it only produces secret resentment that feeds roots of bitterness. Or it may teach a person to believe that their sacrifices will somehow sway how God feels about them because it surely has an effect on what other people think about them. A blatant example of this is the extravagant lifestyle and privileges enjoyed by the top leader, Mr Spriggs of the 12 Tribes communities while the many trusting and blindly obedient believers are demanded to work hard and sacrifice everything for the benefit of the common good. This pattern is seen not only in religious institutions but is prevalent in politics and all areas of life where selfishness takes predominance at the expense of others.

I believe that unfortunately this word sacrifice might possibly be irreparably damaged for my use, at least for awhile until my heart gets a revised definition more firmly in place. As with many other religiously abused words, I have to find alternative words to use in their place that are more accurate and reflect the true meaning and original intent of the word until the negative connotations can be disassociated with that word in the deeper places of my mind and heart. But there is always the problem of having to communicate with others who are still using this word including the Bible itself.

I believe that this may all be part of the renewal process talked about right here in these verses. God knows that we all have screwed up definitions in our hearts implanted by His enemy and that is why we need to release our grip on our own ideas and opinions and beliefs and allow His Spirit to expose these false and damaging notions buried in our hearts to be replaced with the glory of His truth. I am not talking about conforming to the definitions and doctrines of a group of people here. I am talking about a massive transition into a completely different mode of thinking and perceiving of reality that God is drawing us into as we are willing to let go of the old and familiar.

This is the path where we can discover and prove what the real will of God is, what God looks like living through our bodies. That will always end up reflective of the goodness of God and will lead to maturity which is the real meaning of the word perfect. This is what is acceptable to God and will bring all of us into harmony, not only with God but closer and closer to each other as we respond to the promptings of the same Spirit guiding us from the inside.

(next in series)