When Michael Card first started attending an African American church, he was struck by how the congregation worshiped Jesus as "Master." He soon learned that during slavery, calling Jesus "Master" was a subtle way of saying that their earthly masters were not their true Master. This insight led Card on a journey of discovery, as he wondered, "What did it mean for African American slaves to acknowledge Jesus as Master? What did Paul, Peter, Jude and James mean when they acknowledged themselves as Christ's slaves? What would it mean for you and me to take upon ourselves the title 'slave of Christ'?"A Better Freedom explores the biblical imagery of slavery as a metaphor for Christian discipleship. Michael Card shows how the early church saw Greco-Roman slavery as a window into understanding Jesus both as the Savior who took on the form of a slave, but also the true Lord and Master who sets us free from our own slavery to sin. Come, let yourself be captured by the Master. And discover how you can be truly set free.



Michael Card is an award-winning musician and performing artist. His many books include A Fragile Stone, Inexpressible, The Nazarene, and the Biblical Imagination Series on the four Gospels.



I. Introduction: Beginning a Journey

1. "My Master"

2. A Better Freedom

3. One Word, Three Worlds



Part II: Becoming Slaves of Christ

4. "I, Paul, a Slave of Christ"

5. My Son, Onesimus

6. Eye-Slaves and People-Pleasers

7. Your Father's Name

8. "Don't Worry About It"

9. Freed From and Freed To



Part III. Encountering Christ the Slave

10. Christ the Slave

11. Slaves Who Waited for the Way

12. Parables of Slavery

13. The Servant Savior

14. The Death of a Slave

15. Breakfast With a Wounded Slave

16. "Capture Me, for I Am Fleeing"

Epilogue: Freedom

Coda by Sara Groves



Appendix A: Comparison of the Three Worlds of Slavery

Appendix B: A Lexicon of Slavery

Appendix C: A Letter Written on Behalf of a Runaway Slave

Appendix D: A List of Possible Slave Names in the New Testament

Appendix E: The Facts ofModern Slavery

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

About the Author