We were traveling at night on a highway in Missouri. I had just passed a state trooper who was going slower than the speed limit. As I pulled in front of him, on came his lights, so I pulled over. My 5 year old son was in the back seat, as was my 5 year old daughter. As the officer approached, I lowered my window. This was the moment my son decides to shout out, "I surrender!"
Turns out that the officer noticed my son moving around in the back seat, and wanted to make sure he was in a child seat and bucked in. He was, he just gets a little active at times. After explaining why we were pulled over and using his flashlight to check if everyone was buckled, he sent us on our way.
From Chapter 3 of God's Astounding Opinion of You (by Ralph Harris):
Unintentionally, we may send the false message that we haven't been included in Christ's death when we implore Christians to surrender.
I know some who might read this will struggle with this. How many times have we heard the hymn's words, "All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give..."
But consider what surrender means, especially to those unfamiliar with Christianity. Surrender means we have been defeated, when in fact we have been victorious. Surrender means we are at the mercy of our captor, when in fact we are under His grace. We surrender to enemies, God is not our enemy.
So while surrender to God's will might be a good idea for Christians to embrace, I can understand that for those not of the faith, the plea to surrender to God might not be the best choice of wording.
Or am I just being too picky?
2 comments:
Great story Don!
Perhaps submit might be a better word?
I think submit has its problems too for the non-Christian. Just look at how many women have issue with the idea that they should submit to their husbands. But taken in the proper context, submit is a perfect choice.
Thanks for stopping by!
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