THE GOSPEL OF LUKE: - Vital Christianity

203Is it possible that a person can be a prisoner of a lifestyle that is self-destructive? Arethere those who are so religiously institutionalized (like the Pharisees of Jesus' day) that theyreject the liberation of the grace of God? Are there not those who prefer the security ofignorance, daily routine, things as they are, unexamined values, and theology we prefer these tothe challenge of change and choice?"Do you want to be free?"Self-IndulgenceIllness may be self-indulgence. A while back I read about trapping monkeys in India.One technique is to drill a hole in a coconut and place rice in it. A monkey will come along andstick a paw into the coconut, grab a fistful of rice, and then be unable to pull its paw back fromthe coconut. He is trapped by his greed. All he would have to do is turn loose of the rice. Thenhis hand would be free so he could draw it out of the coconut.The problem is that he places greater value on the rice that he is holding than he does onhis freedom. Some of us place greater value on our weaknesses, our dependencies, our sins thanwe do on knowing God. We place greater value on our immorality, our materialistic way of life,our status and success, than we do upon the freedom that would be possible for us if we wouldturn loose of a certain way of life, a certain illness that binds us.The problem is that we want it both ways. We want to be forgiven of our sin. We want tobe cleansed. We want to be made whole again. But we are unwilling, like the monkey, to turnloose of those things that have brought us into this condition of weakness. Our choices leave usphysically, emotionally/ psychologically, and spiritually paralyzed. We are left in a state ofdarkness and lostness."Do you want to get well? Really?"Jesus asked this blind beggar.It is so easy to get so preoccupied with excuses for our problems that we have no energyleft to solve them. Christ calls for action. When we are set free from sin—free from those thingsthat make us less than we ought to be—we have placed upon us the responsibility to respond tothe gift of God. Freedom is freedom to act to follow Jesus. It is a call for us to take responsibilityto do that which God has called us to do—to be His servants in the church and in the world. It isa life away from self-centeredness to God-centeredness, from self-orientation to living for others.Paul put it: