In the late 90s l began to see strange posters everywhere of a disturbing figure with the words "Obey" underneath. There was no other explanation, and it felt like it represented some kind of subversive underground messaging. The art evoked the kind of style used in revolutionary propaganda - bleak and austere, demanding submission to some unknown but powerful figure.
It was only later that I learned that the likeness in the posters was based on Andre the Giant, and the entire trend began as a way to troll skaters who disdained professional wrestling. The founders thought it would be funny to post Andre's likeness in skate parks and places they would frequent. Ironically the movement grew beyond the original intention, and turned into a symbol of rebellion against authority. It was embraced by the punk community as an emblem of resistance against the man, ironically, by using the image of "the man" himself. Andre, the 7ft, 520 pound giant.
It's funny that a symbol for rebellion was a poster of strength with a call to submission. So in reality, rebellion for the punk rebels of the time really meant submission to something else - something a little more nebulous than the institutions we normally think of as "the man".
Interestingly enough, the punk movement of the time had tapped into an ancient truth maybe they weren't fully aware of. That is, rebellion to one power is submission to another, and submission to one power is rebellion against another. That is, you can't avoid being a rebel or a servant. You will always be both simultaneously whether you like it or not. The question is - who are you choosing to Obey?
The Apostle Paul put it like this:
Romans 6:16
Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Like the hulking figure in those Obey posters, sin is more than just a pattern of errors, it is a master that demands submission to its ways. Likewise righteousness is more than a pattern of right choices, but a master who demands submission to its ways. Whoever is your Master - His ways will you follow by nature - and you can't serve two masters at once. In his letter to the Galatians Paul wrote:
Galatians 5:17-18
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you would. But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Paul is saying that the battle within boils down to what power is working within you. One, the flesh, is mediated by the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2-3) - spiritual adversaries that use the weakness of the fallen human state to fulfill their will in us. The other power is mediated by Christ Himself, by His Spirit working within us. As Christians, we can choose to submit to either one:
Romans 6:19-21
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. What fruit had you then in those things whereof you are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Obedience to one master produces slavery to its ways. The question is, whose slaves would you rather be? A slave to sin which leads to harm of self and others, or a slave to righteousness which leads to the ability to care for one's self and love others. The choice is yours. Whom will you Obey?
1 Peter 1:22
Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.
