Self-Maintenance Man

I always wanted to be a superhero - and the other night, sitting in church listening to a visiting pastor from India, God revealed to me that I was. I'm Self-Maintenance Man.

Self-Maintenance Man is a little different than most superheros in that instead of looking to rescue others, he spends his entire life getting himself out of danger. He's kind of like a reverse superhero in that sense. The typical hero disguises himself and rescues others. Self-Maintenance Man disguises others and rescues himself. He uses all of his powers and energies on keeping his life in order, all the while telling himself that the others "aren't so bad" that they need his help.

In Deuteronomy 15, God commands that every seventh year the Israelites are to cancel all the debts of their fellow brothers. In verse 9 God says, "Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: 'The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,' so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing."

God unmasks Self-Maintenance Man with this verse, as He commands him to stop rationalizing away his unwillingness to help the poor. "The 7th year is just around the corner - he can survive until then." "The 7th year (someone else) will take care of him!" "There are programs to help those in need." "I have to get my life in order and then I'll help."

These simply won't cut it. And the other night, as I sat listening to this small, humble preacher from India, an ordinary man who pulls in the children living off of the streets and feeds them and clothes them and loves them in the name of Jesus, I found myself distressingly humiliated. I was ripped open and embarrassed to the very core of my being as the facade of my "Christian Life" was torn off.

My entire life is centered around self-congratulatory self-maintenance. I take care of my ministry, my family, my church, my school and most importantly - myself. I do this under the disguise of spirituality, but when it's unmasked, I realize it's simply me taking care of my kingdom. Everything I do is really about keeping me in the best possible place, occasionally sticking out my hand from under the blankets with a morsel of bread for someone in need.

I need to be like my Savior. He was a sheep-seeking missile, coming into the dirt and muck of this world and pulling out the lost. He didn't simply stand there and say, "I'm here if you need me." That's what we do as churches. We open the doors and yell out, "We're here if you need us!" No - He put on the clothes of the lost and went in and found them and pulled them out of the fire. He wasn't into self-maintenance, He was into us. He got His feet and His hands dirty, yet kept His heart pure. He didn't try to rationalize it away, saying that the Year of Canceling Debts was right around the corner. He personally took on the Debt and canceled it out at the cross for us.

In Deuteronomy 15 it also says that every seventh year a servant could be set free. But if you read Exodus 21 you realize that if these servants were married, they couldn't take their wives out to freedom with them. However, they did have the option of going back to their masters and staying under them, so that they could remain with their wives and family. To do this, they had to place their ear against a door and have a nail pounded through the lobe. Bonded forever.

This is what Christ did for us - He came back for His bride. He didn't leave us in bondage. He was pierced for our transgressions and became one of us. He could have left us - Satan tried like crazy to get Him to come down from that cross - but He became one of us to save us all. Self-Maintenance Man would have never done that.

It's time to wake up.