1. "I have nothing to loose."
2. "I have nothing to gain."
I think I want to live my life as if I have nothing to gain. These two ideas may be similar, but I think they may be quite a bit different. If you have nothing to loose it implies that all you can do is gain or stay in the same place. If you have nothing to gain then the only reason you are motivated is by principle. John the Baptist had nothing to gain when he spoke out against Herod about not having a relationship that was not honored by God. He had nothing to gain, yet he had his own head and life to lose. He had nothing to gain. I don't understand it. The greatest hope one might have in that time was to be a friend of Jesus. He died because of a word that God had him share. He was not a disciple. Jesus speaks very highly of this John. He gave his life and had nothing to gain. I can barely see the value in it. He lost his life because a young girl motivated by the seeds of her mother asked for his head on a platter. The friends of the bridegroom loose their lives because they have nothing to gain.
The other thought that I have been thinking quite a bit about. A lie is usually obvious unless one has something to gain by believing the lie. If believing the deception of another will promise that we will benefit it is hard to discern the truth because we are "self seeking". If we believe our own lies it is because we are "self seeking". One who is not seeking the things of men, the things that are "scarce" or "valuable" will have nothing to gain. We cannot serve God and Mammon. That our hearts would be free from the lies that entice us to betray God and turn our backs on Him!
A few years ago I went on tour for a few weeks. I was on a tour that was about bringing music to communities that were without privilege. One of those places was Angola Prison in Louisiana. I was in charge of shooting video to document the tour and create an image of what we were doing. We had to wait outside of the gates for a bit before we entered. I was able to spend time in the Angola Prison museum. I have never killed anyone, although t is a pretty common human endeavor. If one is in Angola it is likely that this experience is on that one has participated in. I make no judgements. (Paul Carbonara, Blondie's Guitarist for 10 years)
Once inside the prison I was a bit nervous after having surveyed the museum. Everything that I had on my person would have been something that these guys could have cleverly used to devise a murder device. These men could have used me as a way to bargain their release. I was honored to be in their "Home", yet I was also respecting the reality of the situation. I was here to capture the experience. Our group had very little to offer these people even though it was cloaked as a "religious" presentation. I was embarrassed when it was announced that, "our album will be released in two weeks." Aside from the clown show that I was participating in I was very humbled by the situation. I truly had never been in a church service where I felt so much freedom. These men had a joy that was so far beyond most people that I know. Almost any person that I know. They had demeanors that were inexpressible with my current skills at description.
These men had nothing to gain nor nothing to lose. Most of those men will die in that prison. They will never marry. They will never make money. They will never do any of the things that we free men do. It is because of this reality that they in their pursuit of God were able to experience true freedom. I don't want to suggest I know the experience of any of these men, but I do want to say the reason that we experience so much bondage is because of our ideas about the freedoms we have and what we can do. We must seek to lose our lives so that we can find them in Christ. We must literally become voluntarily weak to become like God. It is our choice of forsaking the gain that will transform our hearts. We need to not be people bound to the lies and deceptions of gain so that we can be a real source of the presence of God in each others lives. This world needs those who are willing to burn like lamps of oil in the presence of God and men. We will burn. It will hurt. It will bring the impurities to the surface but when they are cleared away what is left is the pure joy of being a man or woman that is free to love.(me at the time)
In reading “Nothing To Gain” I would like to invite you to the thought of what John the Baptist gained and lost. What the prisoners gained and lost and how this ties together. But most important is what was not lost and what was gained.
ReplyDeleteJohn did gain a lot. He gained favor in Gods eyes. He was sent here to prepare the way. The way was prepared. From the dust he came and to the dust he went. Yet during that time his soul was rejoiced in heaven because of the souls that might have been lost but were not. They were not because he prepared the way. If he had failed then his soul was lost. So for John he knew his head being lost was nothing compared to his soul. What profits a man if he lost his soul but gained the world.
This world is filled with mischief. Each prisoner knows that. But I will tell there are prisons with invisible walls. We could brain storm and try to name them all and fail due to the massive amounts of ways. For those you witnessed in those walls as prisoners, they were removed from mischief or at least most of it. But like John we all realize we come from the dust and return to the dust. They gained a way to understand this and come to peace. If this did not help them then they lost an epic battle for their soul. If in their cell they still rebuke god and cling to the evil thoughts in their heart then again I ask. What profits a man if he gains the world and looses his soul.
So in your journey I welcome you to visit the people of any nature in any place. This ties together because when you return to the dust what will your soul benefit if the things you treasured the most lie next to you in the dust.