Who’s In Charge?

My seventh-grade class was unusual in that the principal of the school was also our homeroom teacher.  He commanded great respect, but when he was out of the classroom attending to school business, the class erupted into a free-for-all.  Occasionally we would get so loud that a teacher from another classroom would appear wielding a large wooden paddle to threaten us back into order.  Our teacher’s misguided presumption that we were old enough to responsibly attend to our classwork permitted the mayhem.  Besides, it was very entertaining, and we were simply not going to monitor ourselves beyond what qualified as fun.

The hope is that as we grow and mature, we will learn to practice self-discipline.  But doing so requires guidelines or rules, along with the appropriate motivation. Yet even with those criteria, we can succumb to the “I-don’t-want-to’s”.  This is actually an ancient problem with man that God addressed in giving The Law to Moses at Mt. Sinai.  These Commandments were intended to help us live our best lives, but from that time many have seen them as restrictive, punitive, and impossible to keep.

Centuries later, Paul was addressing the Christians in Rome regarding the same problem. “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what to do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate is what I do.” (Romans 7:14-15)  Paul goes on to separate man’s sinful nature from the Spirit of God Who is alive in Christ-followers.  He says in Romans 8:5, “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” So, it would appear that the key is being very intentional about focusing our minds. Yet for the well-intended person, the inevitable preeminence of the sinful nature is not so much intentional as it is natural – more like a reflex not requiring or allowing thought time.  That reality is contrasted with the onerous self-discipline required to focus on the Spirit. Practically speaking, how do we continually monitor this when life simply moves so fast?

Because busyness is the earmark of our western lives, we have to back the high-speed train up to Paul’s original proposition and realize that who/what we follow is actually a choice.  We make choices everyday: what to wear, what to eat, where to go, etc.  These are fairly benign, while others can lead us down that dark sin-path.  One choice that would make a universal difference is who we put in charge of our lives.  Most every believer would agree that God is the most qualified, but do we give Him that jurisdiction?  Many of us are accomplished at lying to ourselves, giving ourselves a pass as submitting to God’s Lordship, while really only giving Him lip-service.  Do we wait for His direction and wording before making that crucial phone call?  Do we heed His still small voice to check on that friend or colleague before our next to-do item?  Do we involve Him in our vacation planning? Do we actually consult Him about handling our money as if it really belonged to Him?  Perhaps the most significant tell is our propensity to steer our ships because of our confidence in our own abilities.

Living by the Spirit is the choice to be in submission to Jesus, His teachings, and sacrifice.  This is an internal work that results in the external expression resembling Jesus instead of us.  But we first have to get real with ourselves regarding who is in charge before we know that change is necessary.  Paul gives us an amazing test that reveals the level of our success in verse 6. “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.”  Does the evidence of our lives testify that we are living in abundant life and perfect peace?  It really is all about Who’s in charge.