"You are not your own..." - 1 Corinthians 6:19
I'm reading 1 Corinthians, and I'm realizing that Paul's words on ownership are pretty significant. He does it here in chapter 6, and he does it again in chapter 7 when he talks about marriage (1 Co. 7:4).
This verse is pretty self-explanatory at first. Yes, I'm not my own, I know this. I am God's. But is that where we are meant to stop?
Maybe, maybe not.
I didn't, and here are three possible interpretations to these five "simple" words that my mind bumped into on the way to the grocery store:
1. Laissez Faire: I think that the vast majority of us fall into this appealing interpretation. It's easy to take to this one because it's probably the most literal interpretation, the easiest for us to swallow, and the one that we've experienced the most, though mostly when we were kids (I hope...but I guess if you or your friends are still ridiculously immature, you might still experience this often). It's almost as if we are holding something we are just getting to understand, and God is pouting and saying, "Hey, hands off! That's not yours! It's mine! Give it back!" And our response would be to hand it back, care no more for it, and move on, knowing that our life is only his burden and not ours. It's a specious laissez faire approach, and one that leads easily to laziness and irresponsibility, but it's pretty clear that this interpretation does not fully capture all that is meant here.
2. It's not yours...yet: This interpretation is easily understood when you picture a salesman creeping up behind you as you are looking at an object you want. "It's not yours...yet," he tells you. This interpretation might be the furthest from the conventional, but I do think there is a pearl of truth in this, but there is also an equally sized pearl of falsehood in it. We grow closer to becoming fully ours as we grow closer to becoming "fully" God's (sanctification), so in that very loose sense, yes, we are not our own just yet. Our enemy still has his hold on some parts of us that we will not be able to shake loose until we die. But then again, we are never our own and will never be truly just our own, no matter how long or how hard we work to earn it (no matter the sweet lies that the salesman pours into our ears). There is a shot of humility in that, but an even bigger dose of comfort. Alas, this interpretation, though helpful, is incomplete.
3. Here, borrow my car for the weekend: I think this interpretation is the nearest to the truth, the most helpful, and makes the most sense in the context of the verses before and after 1 Co. 6:19. Yes, we are not our own. So, the question of utmost concern becomes "Whose are we?" The answer to that (as we've examined through two different lenses already) is "We are God's." Now the issue should turn into one of response rather than understanding. If a kind, close friend let you borrow his car for the weekend, you'd be grateful. But even more than that, you would (or at least, should) feel the need and desire to return the car in better condition than when you first received it. This might mean tidying up the interior, filling up the tank, or even taking it to a car wash. I'm confident that this illustration points us in the right direction. We are not our own, but we are God's, and we should take care to treat ourselves and our lives as if they were God's, and not just our own. This perspective should spur us on to care infinitely more about our bodies, minds, souls, families, friends, surroundings, and very lives than we currently do, because they are for someone far greater, lovelier, and more worthy than ourselves. We will be "returning" all of these things to our Lord one day, and his satisfaction with them should burden us greatly. But for those of us in Christ, that burden is now weightless and a non-factor, because he bore it for us and has dealt with it in full. Everything we will return is already (not yet) perfected in him! But don't be fooled into sliding down the slippery slope that the enemy will open up to you here.
2. It's not yours...yet: This interpretation is easily understood when you picture a salesman creeping up behind you as you are looking at an object you want. "It's not yours...yet," he tells you. This interpretation might be the furthest from the conventional, but I do think there is a pearl of truth in this, but there is also an equally sized pearl of falsehood in it. We grow closer to becoming fully ours as we grow closer to becoming "fully" God's (sanctification), so in that very loose sense, yes, we are not our own just yet. Our enemy still has his hold on some parts of us that we will not be able to shake loose until we die. But then again, we are never our own and will never be truly just our own, no matter how long or how hard we work to earn it (no matter the sweet lies that the salesman pours into our ears). There is a shot of humility in that, but an even bigger dose of comfort. Alas, this interpretation, though helpful, is incomplete.
3. Here, borrow my car for the weekend: I think this interpretation is the nearest to the truth, the most helpful, and makes the most sense in the context of the verses before and after 1 Co. 6:19. Yes, we are not our own. So, the question of utmost concern becomes "Whose are we?" The answer to that (as we've examined through two different lenses already) is "We are God's." Now the issue should turn into one of response rather than understanding. If a kind, close friend let you borrow his car for the weekend, you'd be grateful. But even more than that, you would (or at least, should) feel the need and desire to return the car in better condition than when you first received it. This might mean tidying up the interior, filling up the tank, or even taking it to a car wash. I'm confident that this illustration points us in the right direction. We are not our own, but we are God's, and we should take care to treat ourselves and our lives as if they were God's, and not just our own. This perspective should spur us on to care infinitely more about our bodies, minds, souls, families, friends, surroundings, and very lives than we currently do, because they are for someone far greater, lovelier, and more worthy than ourselves. We will be "returning" all of these things to our Lord one day, and his satisfaction with them should burden us greatly. But for those of us in Christ, that burden is now weightless and a non-factor, because he bore it for us and has dealt with it in full. Everything we will return is already (not yet) perfected in him! But don't be fooled into sliding down the slippery slope that the enemy will open up to you here.
Though number 3 seems to contain the most truth and encouragement, I think that all three, somehow intertwined, help us to understand what Paul means when he tells us that "You are not your own."
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