11.28.8 "Prison Break"

"Prison Break"

Daniel 5:1-31
2 Peter 2:1-22
Psalm 119:113-131
Proverbs 28:19-20

How do you feel about being a Christian? Do you feel free or confined? I'm not talking about the Sunday School answer. That answer says, "I'm free!" We sing about it. It may surprise some and not others that there are Christians who find the Christian walk "confining". It's a walk of "don't do this, don't do this, don't do this..." I can see how that doesn't feel very "free". I picture a fence keeping on from falling down a dangerous cliff. I see some leaning against the fence saying, "Boy, this is confining!" But we need to look at this in a different light.

This chapter of 2 Peter is dealing with false teachers. Verses 1-2 say "...there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly tell their lies about God, turning against even their Master who bought them; but theirs will be a swift and terrible end. Many will follow their evil teaching that there is nothing wrong with sexual sin. And because of them Christ and his way will be scoffed at."

I'm thankful that I've never heard any teaching like this, and you probably aren't under the leadership of anyone who would teach like this. But even though there may not be blatant teaching about this type of thing, we are continually exposed to similar philosophy, and these beliefs are on the rise.

Verse 19 says, "'You aren't saved by being good,' they say, 'so you might as well be bad. Do what you like, be free.'"

The world around us touts "freedom". Casting off all restraints. "Do what feels good." "You deserve it."

But the truth is found in the last half of verse 19. "But these very teachers who offer this 'freedom' from the law are themselves slaves to sin and destruction. For a man is a slave to whatever controls him."

Yeah, we know this stuff, but sometimes we grow numb to it. There is a draw to sin and worldliness. Talking about the evil teachers verse 18 says, "They proudly boast about their sins and conquests, and, using lust as their bait, they lure back into sin those who have just escaped from such wicked living."

Many of you are at work reading this. Where you work it may be a monday morning ritual for everyone to talk about the "conquests" of their weekend. How much they drank, etc. Unfortunately, there are believers who get lured back into their old life of "freedom". The truth is that is not free. It's bondage.

It's like a prisoner being released. They're handed their new clothes, then the big gate opens and they walk out. There is a world of freedom out there, but after taking a few steps, they begin to look back and walk along the fence line. The thoughts are, "boy I had some good friends in there...", "Look how much fun they're having playing basketball..." Can you picture someone knocking on the front gate. "excuse me! hello? Can you let me back in?? I want to be free to do the stuff I did in there!"

Sounds ludicrous right? Well... Duh! that's what the reality of the sinful life is. I don't care how much you may have loved your lunch on metal trays, it's still prison.

A good friend did a practicum in a halfway house. He said, "Guys would enter the halfway house, wait until they were a day from being
released, then they'd run in the middle of the night and end up right back in jail. Or you'd hear about them not showing up at their new
job the day after they got out, then getting arrested a day later. They were so used to life in prison that they freaked out or
completely froze when confronted with the reality of freedom again. I encountered one guy who cried because he wanted to just stay in the
halfway house."

God has given us a great "jail break" in Christ. Why in the world would we want to go back. It takes a discipline of the mind to not be tempted in those areas. Peter gets a little more picturesque in his description in verse 22: "There is an old saying that 'A dog comes back to what he has vomited, and a pig is washed only to come back and wallow in the mud again.' That is the way it is with those who turn again to their sin."

The sad part is that those in prison don't really know they're there. Those who do know they're there don't know that there is a way out.

Much of my training in "witnessing" growing up was really blown up into a big deal. Not that witnessing isn't a big deal, but we had the questions, the steps, the prayer and all that. I did lead a few to the Lord that way, but that method was always so foreign to who I was. I'm not a "door-to-door Salvation Salesman" like some may be. I've found that method for me as served to separate me from those who need the message more than it has built a bridge.

Jesus led people into a relationship with God by building a relationship. I need to do the same. With my neighbors, I need to ask them what they believe. People love to talk about themselves. As I ask them about their lives, it will open doors for them to hear about Christ. Building relationships is showing the path to freedom. These prisoners need to be set free. This is our mission: To reach our world for Christ.

Don't get caught in the trap of looking back with longing at the "old life". Make sure you stay in Christ. That's where true freedom REALLY is.


Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

P Greg


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