Second Mile Re-Visited

Someone commented that it is hard to know how many “second miles” to go when serving people whose expectations seem insatiable.


One response here is that the “second mile” is done from a sense of freedom rather than obligation. Volunteering in the first place, for community, or church, or cross-cultural missions service, is already in the “second mile” category. No one is demanding that we do it. We see something that needs doing, and we freely step up and do it. That does not mean we should place ourselves under bondage to do whatever anyone tells us to do.

The Lord Jesus, who taught us about the second mile, also provided examples of setting boundaries. They wanted to make him a king, to do some more miracles, to go to Jerusalem at their bidding, to grant them to sit next to him in power, to answer trick questions, to be available when and where they wanted him, to come down from the cross. He seemed to have no trouble in declining. He demonstrates the ultimate submission to the will of his Father, with the ultimate sense of freedom. -philw