But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
Job 16:5 (NIV)
| Obedience? by Cathy Vinson |
"Yes," I
heard myself say recently. "My son is obedient, but not compliant." Then I
wondered, is there a difference and does it matter? In this passage, in the midst of revealing a bigger issue, Jesus also seems to be touching on an element of obedience, lacing it through the birthorder of the vineyard owner's two sons. Besides sin, one would wonder if the dynamics of conflict on the homefront boil down to strongwilled vs compliant issues. It is a given that we strongwilled firstborns are more difficult to live with, and it's easy to see why being strongwilled gives someone a bad rap. But is there merit? In this passage, the owner begins his desired obedience towards his eldest son. Is there a meek, going along, an "Ok." Are you kidding? You can count on your fingers the times where a request isn't met with some form of refusal or resistance. The strongwilled has to be in the decision. His will has to enter the picture. If he desires truth in the inner man (Ps 51), he will bludgeon his will into wanting it, and be behind you 100%. He does need time, though. What happened to the elder who had baulked at the initial request. He afterwards (at length) "repented and went" to do what his father asked. What was involved in this "repentance"? (Meta means after, implying change. Melo means to care for, to regret, to repent oneself.) He regretted his decision and made a change. There were some levels to work through and, yet, they were worked through. Isn't it pleasing to know that there is a chance for those of us predisposed to resist, those of us with a greater lion to tame. "If there is a will, there is a way," we've heard. There is a way if we repent boldly. Luther spoke of "sinning boldly" followed by "repenting boldly." The strongwilled does each boldly. So "which of the two did what his father wanted" (vs 31)? To the one resistant, yet comes back, there is still the honor of Jesus Christ for having done the Divine will. Compliance isn't the issue here as much as obedience. Now, the other son is a different story.... . |
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| "I will not, but
later he changed his mind..." (Matthew 21:29) |
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