Did you happen to watch any of the Republican National Convention last night? If you did watch, did you happen to pick up on a statement from Senator McCain in which he said “I am not my own man?” Well, if you missed it, here is what he said:
“I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else’s. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency, for its faith in the wisdom, justice, and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again; I wasn’t my own man anymore; I was my country’s.”
Wow! When I heard McCain make that statement, I tried to write it down, but I was unable to remember all of it. So I came in to work this morning and looked up his manuscript. The above is the quotation in full. As I heard what McCain was saying about the love and passion he has for his country, I wondered why more of us don’t feel the same way about our Lord.
McCain’s statement begs to be allegorized. Just as McCain was a prisoner in Vietnam, so we were once held captive by Satan (2 Timothy 2:26). From his prison cell, McCain came to realization of how wonderful his country was, especially in comparison to his present condition. Likewise, our captivity at the hands of Satan, and all the pain and shame it creates should cause us to long for something far better (Psalm 42:1; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Then upon experiencing release from prison, and freedom it brought, McCain’s sense of debt and gratitude was so overwhelming that it led him to say, “I was never the same again; I wasn’t my own man anymore; I was my country’s.” Likewise, should we not to an extent even greater than McCain’s appreciation to his country, be absolutely overwhelmed because of the spiritual freedom our Savior has given us, and because of the quantity and quality of the eternal life that is ours (1 Corinthians 6:20)?
Where is that sense of indebtedness? Where is that passion? Where are the disciples of Jesus who are so overwhelmed by what Jesus has done for them, and so committed that they freely and passionately say, without any fear of contradiction, they they are no longer their “own man,” but are their Lord’s? Friends, may we be able to say/sing with the same kind of conviction I heard in the voice of Senator McCain last night, the following words.
I am mine no more,
I am mine no more;
I’ve been bought with blood,
I am mine no more.