The first mention of the usage of white flags to surrender is made during the Eastern Han dynasty (A.D 25–220). In the Roman Empire, the historian Cornelius Tacitus mentions a white flag of surrender in A.D. 109. Before that time, Roman armies would surrender by holding their shields above their heads. The white flag was widely used in the Middle Ages in Western Europe to indicate an intent to surrender. The color white was used generally to indicate a person was exempt from combat; heralds bore white wands, prisoners or hostages captured in battle would attach a piece of white paper to their hat or helmet, and garrisons that had surrendered and been promised safe passage to safety would carry white batons.
Its use may have expanded across continents, e.g. Portuguese chronicler Gaspar Correia (writing in the 1550s), claims that in 1502, the Indian prince, the Zamorin of Calicut, dispatched negotiators bearing a "white cloth tied to a stick", "as a sign of peace", to his enemy Vasco da Gama. In 1625, Hugo Grotius in De jure belli ac pacis (On the Law of War and Peace), one of the foundational texts in international law, recognized the white flag as a "sign, to which use has given a signification;" it was "a tacit sign of demanding a parley, and shall be as obligatory, as if expressed by words."
Okay. If you actually read that, thank you. It took a lot of time and patience to copy and paste that from Wikipedia. If you didn't, good job. You're a part of the 99% of humans that are lazy. It's okay. So am I (hence the copying and pasting) Anyways, in short, a white flag means to surrender. Or, in some instances, to waive your freedom.
Most of us have heard the term “Surrender to God” or something of the sort. And most of the time we just hear it or even say it without really letting it sink in. In this post, I'm going to challenge you to do just that. Let it sink in. What you do afterward is up to you and God. Lehgo..
As I was live streaming Passion 2012 a while ago, God was working in me. Francis Chan delivered a message that was not only challenging but very needed and very refreshing. But what really got me was being able to be apart of the 45,000+ college students shouting and singing praise to God. (If you are wondering.. Yes. I actually was yelling and singing in my room at 12:00 AM. I know. I'm crazy.) Chris Tomlin and the band starting playing a song called “White Flag.”
What I'm getting at is this. Christianity goes against the grain of today's society. And we have to embrace that. Anywhere else we're taught that you can be your own person and make your own decisions and, in turn, you will be happy. Or that freedom is the best option and we should fight for it in every instance.
Don't get me wrong. Freedom is an awesome thing that we should NEVER take for granted. People are living in bondage all over the world and us Americans get pissed when someone screws up our order at McDonalds. (but that's another post..)
Let's face it. There are things that we don't want to do. So mostly, we don't do them. It's okay. It's because we're human. The problem surfaces when God asks us to do things we don't want to do. If you're a Christian, this sucks. You have to decide whether to be obedient or to stand aside and rebel. In reality that's rebellion at its finest.
What we have to realize is that, as Christians, surrendering means freedom. Sounds crazy right?
“But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” - Romans 6:17-18
With that being said, are we supposed to look stupid and do the hard things that God has called me to do? Of course. Christianity isn't a “get out of Hell free card” anymore. It's a lifestyle of slavery to your master, Jesus.
You might be thinking to yourself, “Okay, Terry. I've heard this a million times. Who cares?” Right. You might have heard it a million times, so make this a million and one.
It's time for a generation to be able to boldly and proudly raise their white flag and join Jesus with a faith that screams slavery to righteousness.
My hope and prayer is that this won't just hit at the surface and run off the sides like a mediocre shield. I'm challenging you to meditate on this, really let it penetrate and soak in. And most importantly, act on it.
I love you all, and God loves you more
