“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded."
From the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
Ever found yourself demanding? Demanding customer service, demanding obedience from children or employees, great latitude from a parent, teacher, or employer... meanwhile demanding more grace, affection, and understanding from everyone?
The roots of those demands are deep-seated in expectations and entitlement. As our expectations and entitlements increase, they tend to manifest as frustration. Frustration often leads to anger. That anger can either be suppressed - only to fester and multiply - or unleashed in vile eruptions of ungodliness exposing the tyrant within.
Our God of Eternal Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, created us in Their image (inherently relational) according to Their likeness (patient, altruistic, gracious, merciful, benevolent, selfless, compassionate, considerate…).
The scandal of Eden reveals our inherent and twisted desire to seize the throne and elevate ourselves to the status of Sovereign. Expelling Christ from the throne of our hearts comes at an immeasurable cost - our choice for expulsion from Eden's paradise, i.e. God's life-giving Presence.
In our pervasive and unyielding endeavor to reign supreme, we'll utilize every wicked tool at our disposal: affection, influence, pity, appearance, power, and position. Tyrants manipulate every situation and circumstance for favorable outcomes.
The unspoken and often unconscious battle cry of the tyrant is this: “Lord, not Your will, but MINE be done!” Sin’s residue is exposed in all our relationships: home, work, play… always and everywhere seeking to protect and preserve the throne we've stolen from Christ the King.
The eternal and rightful Sovereign unveils His desire and design for us through Holy Scripture. We were made in the image and likeness of God. Ours is not to rule as tyrants or dictators but as ambassadors, covenant priests, servants, in fact, His slaves. King Jesus stepped down from His lofty heavenly throne, took on flesh, modeled, taught, lived, loved, and served... even unto death on a cross (Phil 2:1-11).
The enemy continues his relentless onslaught upon your heart and mind. The accuser's crafty schemes won't stop until Christ's everlasting reign begins (Rev 20:3). The father of lies will never stop striving to convince us to struggle, fight, and seize as much as we possibly can. He will continue to whisper wretched lies masquerading as godly wisdom, "God helps those who help themselves... so HELP YOURSELF early and often!"
That's the lie Adam and Eve fell for in the Garden of Eden. Jesus, our victorious Savior, didn't fall for it in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt 26:36-46)! The cross, empty tomb, and the testimony of Scripture expose Satan's lies and defeat! We are victorious in Christ our King (1 Cor 15:55-57)!
King Jesus' last words before His ascension are recorded in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Today we all have a choice as His witnesses. We can live and love as ambassadors and slaves of Christ -or- we can choose to go on demanding, expecting, manipulating, exploiting, embracing, and exposing the tyrant within (Rev 21:8).
Grace and Peace,
Kevin M. Kelley
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