Oppression Comes in Many Forms. Jesus Defeated Them All!

Oppression comes in many forms but all can be divided into three main categories:

πŸ‘‰ Direct
πŸ‘‰ Indirect
πŸ‘‰ Self-Imposed

Direct is that textbook servitude wherein another person strips you of your basic human right to agency and self-directed choice.  Think slavery, wrongful imprisonment, and rape.

Indirect is more subtle, but no less an assault on agency, in that it gives the appearance of freedom but in actuality produces subjugation.  The chains are not literal, but institutional, metaphoric, or nuanced.  Think Jim Crow, manipulation, and psychological abuse.  

And then there is the oft-forgotten self-imposed variety.  This is the oppression which, ultimately, you impose on yourself.  Self-doubt, inferiority complex, limiting thinking; all are its diseased fruit.  

So why do I bring this up?  Because most of what the church has taught is exclusively centered on confronting direct slavery with only a cursory acknowledgement of the indirect.  The self-imposed is ignored entirely.  Worse yet, much of what the church does actually fosters its growth!  Emphasis on your inherent unworthiness, incompetence, disunion, separation, sinfulness, etc. all add proverbial fuel to the fire of this bondage inferno.  Living in a state of constant ‘do-to-earn’, the wondrous, vibrant experience of ‘faith’ is deconstructed to a performance-based, tormenting act of abuse.  Is it any wonder then that the victims of such systems invariably go on to become abusers themselves, and the cycle perpetuates.  

Enter the Trinitarian message of union and full reconciliation!  By accomplishing your redemption as a past tense event, the burden is no longer pursuing salvation, but awareness of what He already finished.  You are not in need of salvation from some future-tense demonic torture chamber, but deliverance from a mindset that says you are distant, disconnected, or anything less than a beloved child of Father.  It’s not about your performance, how fervently you pray, or how many church gatherings you attend.  This is works and has no place amongst a new covenant people.  The goal is to live life out of the rest that is already yours.  So long as we feed on works, we will experience frustration as so much of the promise seems just beyond our grasp - in some ways moving further away the harder we try to grasp it.  

The foundation of truth is knowing who God is and, just as important from a practical standpoint, knowing who you are as a result.  So before you DO anything, allow the Spirit to reveal who you ARE.  I pray that the answer is as astounding and joy-inducing for you as it has been for me! 

https://linktr.ee/drpandel 

#EveryChainBroken
#Grace
#Christology
#theology
#Trinitarian
#finishedwork



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