“You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Corinthians 7:23).
At the memorial service for Campus Crusade’s founder, Dr. Bill Bright, his son Brad told about the time he was in his father’s office when a group of reporters came to interview him. One of them asked him to tell them about a problem he had that other people could relate to. He replied, “I don’t have any problems.” And he explained the reasoning behind what he said. He told them that he was a slave of Jesus Christ, and that a slave had no rights of his own; therefore, the challenges he faced were the problems of his master, Jesus Christ.
In an interview with Pastor Rick Warren, only months before his death, Bright said, “We felt the most important thing we could do was to become as slaves of Jesus. Signing a contract to that effect laid everything we owned or ever would own on the altar, and we’ve been slaves now for 50 some years. And I must tell you it is the most liberating thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Bill Bright was one of the past century’s most influential Christian leaders, and we applaud his dedication. Nonetheless what he and his wife Vonette did is in keeping with what the New Testament teaches.
“Wait a minute,” you may be thinking. “Isn’t what he did going a bit too far?” Bright often talked about the example of Paul, who often began his letters with the statement, “Paul a servant of Jesus Christ.” Here’s some background.
In ancient days a person could become a servant or slave several ways. He could fall into slavery as a prisoner of war. He could get there when he couldn’t pay his debts. Or he could be born to slaves, thereby becoming subject to their master just as his parents were.
Exodus 21 also tells us of a parallel situation. At times slaves became devoted to their masters who treated them well and respected them. When their time of commutation was completed, some slaves wanted to stay in the master’s household. Thus, Moses commanded, “He [the master] shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.”
For the child of God, becoming a servant of Jesus Christ is a voluntary act of submission. Nobody forces you to do this. Writing to the Corinthians, Paul said that when you are free and become a follower of Jesus Christ, you become His slave. He says, “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men,” (1 Corinthians 7:23).
The New Testament uses a well-known analogy—the slave market as a picture of humanity—men and women as we are—who have become ensnared by habits, by wrong thinking, by sinful deeds, who can’t break the bondage in our own strength.
He pictures Christ as coming to buy our freedom by becoming a sacrifice Himself, giving His life as the penalty for our sin, and His life frees us, makes us new people.
But—and this is the part many prefer not to face—we then become His to command. “You are not your own,” Paul tells the Corinthians. “You were bought with a price.”
When Bill and Vonette Bright were at Princeton, he confronted this truth. One Sunday afternoon, he and Vonette sat down and made a list of everything they possessed. As a businessman who knew what contracts were about, Bill made a contract with God, “a contract of total surrender of our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ—to become His slave[s]” as he put it.
And from the time Bill Bright acknowledged he was a servant of Jesus Christ; he had no problems–only challenges. No wonder he could say, “It is the most liberating thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Resource reading: Exodus 21
