In Acts 12 the Apostle Peter was arrested and kept in prison, but it wasn’t the first time he’d ever felt incarcerated.

Earlier in John 6, after “many of Christ’s disciples” had absconded the ministry community (v.66), Jesus gave the same opportunity to Peter. Yet the old fisherman found himself unable to leave. “Where would I go?” he said, “You have the words of eternal life”.

In essence, Peter was captive; and Jesus Christ held the keys. No shackles, no chains; yet completely immobilized by God’s will for his life. No matter how badly he might’ve wanted to get away, Peter was going nowhere.

Paul, too, knew what it was like to be a prisoner. He’d been following Jesus for decades as a free man when the Holy Spirit began showing him that the liberty he enjoyed was only temporary (Acts 20:23). Rather than fleeing as others might’ve done, he, like Peter, stayed the course. He was completely immobilized by God’s will for his life, yet Paul humbly embraced the shackles & chains that awaited him.

Staying put can be a real challenge for some people. Especially when God forces the issue. It’s one thing to do exactly what you’re told. It’s quite another to stay right where you are. 

SLAVES VERSUS PRISONERS

Many of us are well acquainted with the concept of ‘bond-slavery’ in the Bible. It’s the term “doulos”, often translated “servant” or “slave”. Being used over 125 times, it seems to be a favorite self-designation among New Testament writers. In the church it refers to someone who serves Jesus with a level of loyalty & obedience that parallels that of a traditional slave. The prefix ‘bond’ indicates our willingness to live like that. In other words, “doulos” is a servitude that’s chosen for oneself, not forced.  

It’s one thing to do exactly what you’re told. It’s quite another to stay right where you are. 

Unlike bond-slavery, however, imprisonment happens against one’s own will. A bondslave gets to choose whether they’ll let themselves be owned, while imprisonment, almost always, is somebody else’s choice. Whether they like it or not, they find themselves detained by someone with greater authority.

Another striking difference is that slavery is defined by a person doing what they would rather not do; while imprisonment is when somebody stays where they would rather not be. From John the Baptist to John the Apostle, countless Christians have known what it was like to be stuck in a spot they didn’t go looking for. Whether it was the saints we’ve read about in Scripture, or the ones we’ve never even heard of, many faithful believers have felt the cold chill of a dungeon they were forced into.

FAITH VERSUS FREEDOM

Some disciples of Christ make better slaves than prisoners. They’ll do anything for Jesus so long as they retain the freedom to move about as they please. But once they feel the restraint upon their life, their good character starts to dissolve. Others, I suppose, are opposite: they make better prisoners than slaves. They’ll gladly stay right where they are as long as nothing is expected of them. But as we’ve seen in recent months in our journey together through the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul was exemplary on both accounts.  

Not all of God’s servants will experience actual imprisonment in this life, but no one should assume that they’re exempt from its effect. So, before you congratulate yourself for serving Jesus by choice, you might ask whether you’ll still do it with a glad heart when, like Peter, you’ve got nowhere else to go. You’re willing to serve Jesus in the open air, but will you let Him put you behind bars?

It hardly matters in the end, whether you liken yourself to a ‘slave’ or to that of a ‘prisoner’. The important thing is whether you’re ready to keep doing what you’re told, right where you are, regardless of your situation.

I certainly hope so. The church could always use more faithful men (and women) whose love for Christ surpasses their love for freedom.