Knives and Forks

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13 NASB

Opportunity – Everyone must deal with forks. No, not eating utensils. I mean forks in the roads we travel. We have to decide which way to go, and depending on how we decide, we may end up brandishing a knife or offering a spoon. Paul exhorts us to choose the path of service to each other. But there is another alternative and unless we are fully cognizant of its implications, we might find ourselves cutting into the divine fabric rather than being spoon-fed by the Spirit.

Paul uses the Greek word aphorme. TDNT adds some important insight:

This word has such various senses as “start,” “origin,” “cause,” “stimulus,” “impulse,” “undertaking,” “pretext,” “possibility,” “inclination,” “opportunity,” and even “aversion.” Its use in the in LXX Ezek. 5:7 alters the sense by establishing a connection of the people with the Gentiles. It is added in elucidation in Prov. 9:9. In the NT it occurs only in Paul except for an alternative reading in Lk. 11:54, where it has a derogatory sense.^[1]

Jewish Greek, the kind of Greek used in the LXX, implies that this kind of “opportunity” is a Gentile idea. Why would Paul suggest such a thing? Because the way of the righteous is the way of Torah. The righteous know which fork in the road to take because their “freedom” is to follow God’s instructions. But Gentiles see “freedom” differently. They think that freedom is the absence of rules. For them, freedom means not being required to live according to someone else’s instructions. With this Greco-Roman view of freedom, ahorme is the chance to do what I want to do without constraint or limitation. In other words, it is the opportunity to exercise whatever my yetzer ha’ra desires.

Paul is appalled. “How could you possibly think that YHVH releases you from obligation to Him? What can ‘freedom’ mean apart from God’s instructions? Are you crazy? Do you think that living without a code of conduct makes you free? May it never be! You will simply become the slave to your passions, an addict of the yetzer ha’ra? What kind of freedom is that?”

You come to a fork in the road. You know you must decide. One way appeals to your sense of duty, to the desire to serve God and others. The other is the tantalizing possibility of experiencing your way. Both are enticing. It’s great to feel that you are making godly choices, that you are fulfilling a deep desire to make a difference in the world and receive the favor of your God. But it’s also alluring to think that at this moment you can take the other path, the one that feeds your desire to mold the world according to your wishes, the one that gives you just a hint of what it means to be in total control. You weigh the options. Oh my, they seem so equal right now. If you are going to choose the Torah fork, you will need more than this moment’s opportunity to motivate you.

Paul’s statement implies that the opportunity is real. It simply isn’t the case that the way of righteousness will overwhelmingly force its choice upon you. The balance scale seems even. Before you is the impulse to act as an independent agent, to exercise the possibility of self-governing choice. Right now (for it means nothing in hindsight) you and I must recall the dependent nature of our existence, not just dependent on God but on each other. What we choose to do at this moment affects everyone else—and we will be responsible for the outcome. Even this might not be enough to dissuade us from the opportunity for it is a rational stay of execution. What must be added to this thought is the emotional trauma of the other. At this moment, we must feel what it would be like to be the recipient of our wrong choice. We must engage the trauma of the other in order to see how our choice might become a killing blade instead of a nurturing spoon. It is always possible to overcome reason in favor of desire. It is far more difficult to ignore emotion.

Topical Index: opportunity, aphorme, choice, Torah, Galatians 5:13

^[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (731). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.