Smooth Talkers - 2

Now, it is my desire, brothers, that you will take note of those who are causing division and trouble among you, quite against the teaching which was given to you: and keep away from them. For such people are not servants of the Lord Christ, but of their stomachs; and by their smooth and well-said words the hearts of those who have no knowledge of evil are tricked. (Romans 16:17-18 BBE)

We are all slaves – there is no avoiding that fact of reality. But the death and resurrection of Jesus has given us the freedom to choose who will be our master. This is one of the main battles raging in the great war going on in the supernatural realm. Our perception of our identity is the target of the enemy's fiercest attacks. He constantly assaults us with deceptions, with subtle and blatant lies, with perversions of reality, with allurements and inducements to surrender our freedom and true identity in Christ in exchange for pleasure, power or satisfaction. He uses fear and intimidation to attempt to frighten us into submission to the domination of our fleshly desires which are manipulated by him. He operates very much as our governments operate, promising security in exchange for giving up personal freedoms or for false promises of freedom. But just like governments have an ulterior agenda whenever they make these kind of false declarations, so too the enemy of our soul hides the real results of the choices he tries to get us to make.

But the enemy is not alone in his efforts to keep us locked into slavery to the counterfeit reality. Nearly all of the world is assisting him in his desperate attempt to coerce everyone into his mold. The analogy of the crabs in a box is very illustrative of how we tend to keep each other in the bonds of slavery to selfishness and fear. Whenever a crab tries to climb over the edge of a box to freedom other crabs will reach out and grab him with their claws and pull him back into the box with them. This is even more true in the pit of sinful thinking that we find ourselves in. Each time a person desires to escape the confines of bigotry, selfishness and the rule of force and fear, there are many waiting all around them to immediately use all means possible to prevent them from surrendering to the control of their new Master and escape the control of this world's systems.

During the Civil War in the U.S. there was a period of time at the beginning where the North suffered defeat after defeat on the battlefield. What many do not realize is that the war originally was fought, not over slavery but over the right of individual states to govern themselves differently than that dictated by the federal government. To this end it was rather difficult to inspire Union soldiers to give their lives just to keep the union of the various states under the control of the federal government.

But after the most bloody defeat in the history of this country (more deaths in one day than ever before or since in all the history of the United States), President Lincoln moved to declare the freedom of all slaves living within the regions of the United States of America. After that point, even though nothing outwardly changed for most of the slaves, the mindset internally of the slaves who learned of this proclamation was radically altered. Even though they still suffered under the abuses of their masters, they had the option to view themselves as free men and women and to believe in their new status no matter what transpired around them. It also stimulated the soldiers of the North to have a cause worth dying for far greater than just the preservation of a political union of state governments. This declaration of freedom by the highest authority of the land became the catalyst that eventually brought victory to the Union armies and began the long slow process of civil rights to all people in the United States.

The real fact is that true freedom is a state of mind even more than outward circumstances. But when a person fails to embrace the truth internally about their real identity but continues to view themselves through the lenses of their circumstances, then they will continue to act like slaves, feel like slaves and think like slaves no matter how free they may actually be. This principle of the mind is used to achieve one of the most pernicious and diabolical tricks of the enemy to keep us locked into a slavery mentality to sin even though we have been declared free and have the option to live in complete freedom inwardly.

I have observed many times that there is a subtle attitude among the descendants of American slaves that sadly seems to be incorporated into their very culture too often. It is an attitude of wanting to keep part of the slave mentality alive in order to leverage advantages for themselves in present situations. There are many among them who indulge in a habit of accusing others of being racist with little evidence of that fact simply because they know that the presence of racism can draw sympathy and attention to themselves.

I am not saying that there is no racism in this country. But what I have observed is that very often racism emanates from the heart of the purported victims of racism even more strongly than it often does from those they accuse of being racist. There is also the effect that accusing others of being racist can even induce a certain amount of racist attitudes in response when it was not present originally. But the underlying problem is far deeper than just racism or ignorance. The real problem is that people who may still be suffering disadvantages externally from slavery that was abolished long ago are still allowing the mentality of slavery to stay alive in their own hearts.

The very same thing is just as true for every person who is trying to be a Christian. When we allow ourselves to indulge in slavery mentality to sin when Jesus has declared us to be free, then we actually reinforce the lies about ourselves by our own choices to leverage our circumstances through false charges or assumptions. We even are going so far as to discount the word of God Himself and insist that our disadvantages and circumstances are proof that we are not really free as God says we are. This in reality is evidence of a heart of unbelief. And its effects to keep us in the chains of slavery are far more powerful than we realize.

What I see in these verses is a strong warning to separate ourselves from the “crabs” that are trying to keep our minds and hearts in slavery thinking. There are those within the body of believers who may appear to be Christians and act and talk like Christians but are still caught in sin's slavery-based thinking and feeling. Even worse, these individuals have become skilled at polishing their message of false identity in very compelling ways. They reinforce our doubts about our true freedom and cause us to focus on our disadvantages and feel sorry for ourselves. They cast doubt over the pronouncements of freedom that come from God's Word and confuse our hearts with skepticism and fear.

Even worse, these same people may be using the words of freedom to keep us in a slave mentality. They may be claiming that our freedom in Christ disconnects us from responsibility for complete obedience to God's requirements. They may say that because of Christ's death that we no longer have to obey the Law of God and that such obedience is really impossible anyway. But in using the smooth language of freedom they are actually deepening the bondage to sin in the lives of those who embrace their wonderful-sounding teachings.

This all results in creating occasions for stumbling and makes us hesitate in our pursuit of knowing God more deeply. This kind of thinking portrays God in ways that make us become afraid of Him again, to doubt the permanence of His mercy, to reinforce religious lies that are so pervasive in this world. Or their words may portray a God who excuses sin in our lives and softens His requirements in order to make it easier for us to meet His standards of maturity and perfection.

This text reveals that these people are themselves still caught in the mentality of slavery to the lies about God that have kept all of us in bondage for most of our lives. They are still focused on a pseudo salvation that revolves around saving our own selves in heaven more than saving God's reputation at any cost to ourselves.

I am becoming more and more aware of the truth that much of what I have believed and what is still largely taught in Christianity is a counterfeit gospel that goes largely unchallenged. The more I learn about true reality and the truth about God that He is revealing to me through His Word, the more I sense the residue of slavery thinking that still inhibits me from fully embracing my freedom. But the closer I get to the passionate heart of God the more the false notions are exposed in the light of His truth and I am granted the opportunity to release yet more lies and enter into more complete freedom in my life.

I want to enjoy the freedom of slavery to Christ. It is a slavery like that enjoyed by lovers who are so captured by the beauty and attractions of the object of their attention that they have no time or interest in other distractions. It is a slavery of love and affection and devotion that is all-consuming for the life. It is the most wonderful dichotomy that exists.

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