Discussion Guide
2.26.14
In It To End It
based in part on an event based movement to end slavery
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1
They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”
2 Peter 2:19
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
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:15-22
It’s easy to get discouraged when…
…real solutions seem hard to come by
…the problem is too overwhelming
…it’s taking much longer than you had anticipated
You find yourself wanting to give up when…
…it feels like you’re in it by yourself
…the pain speaks louder than your hope
…you’ve tried before and failed
There exists within every human heart a longing to be free juxtaposed with the suspicion that freedom may ultimately be a mirage. Like caged animals we scratch and claw against those things that constrain us. Intrinsically we believe that people ought not be owned, especially not by other people.
It was this impulse and struggle for freedom and independence that inspired a declaration now written within the halls and upon the walls of our government buildings…
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Those who penned these words did not claim them as original thoughts but as borrowed concepts, written so deeply upon the hearts of humanity that they ought to be “self evident.”
Several years before, similar words were spoken and then written down within a very different context…
“…if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36
Independence is an alluring concept. But is it a sustainable one? If independence represented the top human priority, then what would compel a person to trade in that independence for the interdependence of marriage?
Perhaps it is not ultimately liberty we desire but rather liberation from the cold hard fist of oppression. On one level or another perhaps we all know the stinging wounds associated with a cruel taskmaster motivated exclusively by selfish gain rather than compelled by love. We know what it is like to be used as resources for the sake of agenda with little regard for our personal well being.
In this scenario children who have not been taught to properly swim are forced to retrieve tangled fishing nets at the bottom of a lake that has already claimed the lives of so many of their peers and even friends. They are exploited and used like expendable resources.
In this scenario young girls who ought to be fluttering with the first inclinations of courtship are forced into the arms and beds of men who don’t even care to know their names, and are altogether unconcerned with what happens to them after a brief and heartless encounter. Bought and sold like a temporary commodity what ought to be sacred is traded in the open market like a loaf of bread.
We are “in it to end it.” We cannot stand by while others are used as slaves.
We are “in it to end it.” We will no longer be slaves ourselves, even to our own lusts and desires.
And yet we sing…
“Pierce my ear Oh Lord my God,
Take me to your door this day,
I will serve no other gods
Lord I’m here to stay.
For you have paid the price for me
With your blood you ransomed me
Now I will serve you eternally
A free man I’ll never be.”
Caught in an open paradox we stand in opposition to slavery while willingly offering ourselves as slaves.
Ironically we trade in our independence and lay down our freedom with the belief that in order to find our very lives we must lose them. We throw off the shackles that have tyrannically bound us and then willingly surrender to another knowing that this submission is the road to true freedom. ”…for if the Son has set you free you are free indeed.”
But tearing off shackles is not easy. Taskmasters do not give up their “possessions” without a fight. Still our hope is found in this…
The ONE who desires our full devotion is not just willing to fight for us but to die for us, and this makes all the difference.
May we end slavery but may we never be radically independent.
Questions for Discussion
1) What do you know about modern day slavery? What is it about? Who are its victims?
2) What can WE really do about it? How can WE end it? Or can WE end it? How can we tangibly join the fight for justice and freedom? Why should we?
3) What do you personally know about slavery (perhaps of a different kind)? What has the most potential to enslave you? What can WE really do about it? How can WE end it? Or can WE end it? How can you tangibly join the fight against this kind of slavery in your own life? Why should you?
4) When it comes to slavery, both the kind that happens in other parts of the world and the kind that happens in the context of your own life, what makes the fight against it so overwhelming? Did you relate to what Brendan shared tonight? Read Romans 6:15-22 together. What stands out to you? What do you identify with in this part of scripture?
5) Where is freedom found? Is independence the ultimate goal? Read 1 Peter 2:16. What do we do with that? Why would we choose to be slaves to God? What exactly does that mean? Does sacrificing independence have the potential to lead to something even better? What about marriage? What’s the difference between this and the kind of slavery that we are “in it to end?”
6) What can we do together to end slavery worldwide? What can we do together to end our own more subtle form of slavery?
7) Pray together.
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