\u201csummon, admonish\u201d or \u201cexhort.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Its almost like the translators didn\u2019t quite know how to capture the full depth of what the writer, Paul, was trying to get at. I began thinking about this and was reminded of the \u201cdare scale\u201d used by children on playgrounds and adults who never grow up. As a reminder, if one of your friends wants to dare you to do something, they can employ any of the following dare options:<\/p>\n\n\n\n1. The basic dare. Ex: Dude, there\u2019s that girl you like. I dare you to go talk to her. <\/em>This is used when the dare-ee would probably do the dare without being dared to begin with. The problem with the basic dare is that it can easily be ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n2. The double dare. Ex: You don\u2019t wanna talk to her? Come on, I double dare you, bro.<\/em> Now we\u2019ve taken this thing up a step. You can\u2019t just ignore a double dare. The dare-er has just given the dare-ee something to think about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. The double dog dare.\u00a0Ex:\u00a0 You\u2019re such a chicken. Just do it man. I double dog dare you!\u00a0<\/em>Ok, this has all of the sudden gotten serious. Not taking a double dog dare will subject you to ridicule for days, even weeks and is fair game for all future proof of wussiness. Game on, baby. Game on. (Note: some less civilized areas of the country use the \u201cdouble dirty dog\u201d or \u201cdouble dirty dead dog\u201d dare, but this is not recommended as I think we can all agree its beneath us.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n4. The triple dog dare. Ex: This is so ridiculous! I can\u2019t believe you! You\u2019re such a pansy! Go talk to her! I triple dog dare you!<\/em> Ok, now we\u2019ve reached critical mass and the triple dog dare has been used. This is essentially a kill-shot by the dare-er where they are pulling rank and demanding the dare be done. No person in their right mind would ignore a triple dog dare. You just don\u2019t do that. It doesn\u2019t matter how awful the dare is, not performing a triple-dog dare is much worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI think the Apostle Paul is handing the Romans a triple dog dare here. He\u2019s essentially saying Look, there\u2019s really no other option here. Quit dragging your feet, just bite the bullet and do it already.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nSo now that we\u2019ve established the importance of Paul\u2019s triple dog dare, what is he daring us to do? What’s so important that he uses the trump card of all dares?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s look at the rest of the verse. I’m using the Amplified version:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nDo you keep the mercy of God in view as you move forward? Or do you only use it for your rear view mirror? So many Christians seem to relegate God\u2019s mercy only to their past. Sure, they believe He\u2019s forgiven them for what\u2019s already occurred, but while that\u2019s certainly good, its incomplete. Recognizing mercy for your past brings freedom to your personal history, but without mercy fueling your hope for the future you won\u2019t have the confidence to move forward in Him. His mercy is new every morning \u2013 not just for yesterday\u2019s sake but for the sake of today! You don\u2019t have to be afraid of mistakes you\u2019ll make today or tomorrow \u2013 keep His mercy in view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026.make a decisive dedication of your bodies\u2026.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nLook, you\u2019re not just going to wake up one morning and magically act like Jesus. While you\u2019re here on earth, you have a flesh and your flesh is never going to want to do what\u2019s right. We say the wrong things, we serve ourselves, we forget our purpose. We Christians have to make the choice everyday \u2013 a decisive dedication of our bodies \u2013 to walk in the Spirit and not follow the dictates of our flesh. Not saying its easy, but its necessary!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated)\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nI\u2019ve always heard the word \u201choly\u201d defined as \u201cset apart.\u201d That’s a good definition. You could also use the phrases \u201cother than\u201d and \u201csomething else.\u201d Holy is the word you use to describe something when all analogies fail. It\u2019s untouched by everything you might compare it to. It stands alone. This is why we tell God He\u2019s holy during worship. He is \u201cother than\u201d anything else. He is \u201csomething else.\u201d We are called to be \u201cother than\u201d too: separate from the world and given completely to Him. Have you ever seen on-fire Christians loving others unconditionally, full of faith and changing the environment around them for the better? Now that\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0something else!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201c\u2026well pleasing to God\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nWanna make God happy? Impress Him by giving Him all of you. Imagine that you finally saved up enough money to order that brand new car you\u2019ve been dreaming of. You visit the dealership, choose all of your options and make the down payment. But weeks later when the car arrives, its missing the steering wheel, the rear bumper and the front right tire. You\u2019d be upset, wouldn\u2019t you! Well, God purchased you with the blood of His Son. Imagine how frustrating it is when you hold parts back from Him. He bought a complete ministry vehicle, but many times we deny Him access to those parts He purchased. God is not impressed with how loud you sing during worship or how many verses are underlined in your Bible. He is impressed when He gets all that He paid for!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service\/worship\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Greek word translated here as \u201creasonable, rational, and intelligent\u201d is\u00a0logikos\u00a0<\/em>where we get the English word \u201clogical.\u201d Not allowing the Amazingly All-Powerful, Incredibly Intelligent King of the Universe full access to your life is just plain illogical. Really, it just makes no sense. What are you afraid of? Be smart – go ahead and go all in!<\/p>\n\n\n\nI encourage you to be 100% totally sold out to Him. Go ahead, try it. What are you waiting for? You\u2019re not gonna get a better deal! He loves you. He wants you. He\u2019s calling you. Answer Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I triple dog dare you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was warped at an early age. But it was the good kind of warping. My parents made my brother and I memorize scripture as young children. There\u2019s a story that has reached legendary status in the Nunnally family that tells of my then four-year-old older brother being asked what his name was by a stranger at the beach. He replied, \u201cSeek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.\u201d Classic. One of the verses I memorized as a kid was Romans 12:1. Unfortunately, there weren\u2019t nearly as many Bible translations back then, so the New King James was the most modern version around. It started \u201cI beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God\u2026\u201d Not exactly kid-friendly vocab, huh? Who the heck says \u201cbeseech\u201d anymore? I was recently reading this verse again and decided to look up all of the different translations for what was originally translated \u201cbeseech.\u201d I found that it had been replaced with “urge,” “appeal,” “beg,” and “plead” in most newer versions. The English definition for the Greek is to \u201csummon, admonish\u201d or \u201cexhort.\u201d\u00a0Its almost like the translators didn\u2019t quite know how to capture the full depth of what the writer, Paul, was trying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[27,30,28,29,26],"class_list":["post-176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-apostle-paul","tag-beseech","tag-double-dare","tag-living-sacrifice","tag-romans-121"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jamienunnally.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/tripledogdare.jpg?fit=2475%2C1602&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions\/179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamienunnally.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}