[Scripture: 1 Samuel 9:1-7]
Today I want to talk about the aspiration of all humanity for autonomy. In our culture, especially Western culture, people want an autonomous life, and the right to self-reliance is our highest value.
June is graduation month. Most high school students seem to believe that graduation is a milestone in life and a time to celebrate freedom from parental restraint.
The desire for autonomy is seen in all generations, not just high school students. When I visited a nursing home, most people told me they wanted to go home. Sometimes I asked them why they wanted to go back home. Most of them said, “I want to be independent.” Independent living seems to be the universal aspiration of all humanity.
However, a life of autonomy or independence comes with many responsibilities. High school graduates can be free from their parents but are not free from paying rent and car insurance. If they don’t pay their rent, the landlord will kick them out. The point is that a life of autonomy comes with responsibility for your choices.
Spiritual Autonomy from God
The same principle is applied in the Christian life. Today’s passage talks about spiritual autonomy from God, which comes with many responsibilities.
1 Samuel 8:1, Samuel grew old and made his sons judges over Israel, but they dishonestly judged the people. So, people came to Samuel and said, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
It sounded reasonable to them, but God saw there were two wrong intentions behind their request. The first intention was that they did not want to allow God to appoint their spiritual leader anymore, but rather they wanted to choose their king themselves. Before this, God chose a spiritual leader to deliver the people of Israel from their oppressors when they cried out to God.
To cry out to God means to repent from wrongdoing, and the whole nation had to repent to God. When an enemy oppressed Israel, God waited for all of the nations to cry out to God. They didn’t like doing that, so they wanted to choose a king because a king would fight for them without their repentance.
The second intention for appointing their own king was that they could make spiritual decisions under the influence of ungodly people. The people said, “We will be like all the other nations, appoint a king to lead us.” They asked Samuel to reject God as their king in order to follow the patterns of those who followed pagan gods.
Because pagan worshipers could create their own gods and replace them with other gods if they wanted, it was a very attractive way of life to the Israelites.
God wanted to be their King, but people rejected God as their King for two reasons:
- They wanted to have the autonomy to choose their own king.
- They wanted to follow the example of those who worshiped pagan gods.
A Study on Young Christian Spiritual Behavior
According to Barna’s research, there are six reasons why young Christians leave the church and rethink Christian faith after age 15.
Reason #1 – Churches seem overprotective.
Reason #2 – Churches come across as antagonistic to science.
Reason #3 – They wrestle with the exclusive nature of Christianity.
Their claims seem reasonable because they point out the wrong spiritual motivation of other Christians. However, I think their complaints are the same as those of the people in 1 Samuel 8:7.
They seem to point out the faults of other Christians, but in a spiritual sense, they are looking for their own spiritual autonomy from the Word of God. However, there is one thing you should never do before God, even for good reasons: gain spiritual autonomy from God. If you do, you are responsible for the consequences of your choices.
Definition of Spiritual Autonomy in the Bible
In the Old Testament, spiritual autonomy meant a broken relationship with God. God created humanity in the image of God, which means we have the ability to have fellowship and develop a submissive relationship with the Triune God. In this relationship, autonomy means severing communion with God and pursuing one’s own independent life.
I believe that you have heard the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden many times. God said, “If you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die.” The knowledge of good and evil meant knowing that they could choose good or evil according to their own standards.
It meant that they realized that they could do things against God’s will and follow their own will, and also they thought that they could live as independent entities from God. So, when God asked where Adam and Eve were in the Garden, “they said, ‘We are naked, so we hid.’” That meant they realized that they were beings independent from God.
For example, children develop an awareness that they are a separate people from their parents. “When your baby is a newborn, they instinctively know that they are a part of you. As they grow, they’ll start to work out that they’re their own.”
Psychologists say that after twenty-four months, babies will begin to develop their own identities and make progress in differentiating themselves from their mothers. At two to three years of age, they become more independent.
One day, they know that they are naked and hide from you with shame. That is a time their identity fully develops and separates from you as an independent being.
Gaining Autonomy and Having Responsibility
Adam and Eve said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so, I hid.” After that, God said to Adam, “You became like one of us so that you need to take care of yourselves.” They no longer had free housing and free food. They had to work hard to survive, and they were also responsible for their physical and spiritual death because they broke their relationship with God.
Conclusion
Now, many modern Christians are losing the grace of God in exchange for gaining spiritual autonomy. However, there is good news for us. Romans 5:17 says, “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ?”
In the Garden, Adam and Eve were autonomous with many things, but there was only one condition: don’t eat the one fruit. In the same way, modern Christians can enjoy their autonomy in many ways, but there is only one condition: stay in Christ.
Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Rest means giving all the responsibilities of your body, heart, and pain to Christ.
Do not lose your spiritual identity trying to gain more autonomy from God, but rather find ways to stay in tune with Christ because He is the Way and the Truth and the Life.
2022.05.22.Pastor Cloud Poy
@ Photo on Unsplash
