FOR FREEDOM
Few words come with as much baggage, assumptions, or images as “freedom.” Some of us think of George Michael and company harmonizing into glory. Some of us think of the Declaration of Independence’s words entitling all men to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Some people think of the abolition of slavery in the US. Some people think about Princess Elsa, singing what could be a thesis for the postmodern moment, “No right, no wrong, no rules for me, I’m free.” Summer Break. Liberty. Eagles.
In most instances, our notion of freedom has something to do with the ability to claim agency, to move at our discretion, to be free to behave a certain way, and to be free from having to behave a certain way.
And, candidly, that’s what I think the whole of the Christian life is about: freedom. It’s become my belief that the whole journey of life with Jesus is about becoming people who are free. The often-quoted words of the Apostle Paul take root, “It is for freedom that the Christ has set us free…”, or “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
This is what most if not all of the practices from Jesus’ teaching and church history are about. It’s why Jesus tells his followers to go into their room to pray, to be free from the need to perform. It’s why he tells one man to sell all he has, to free him from the bondage of greed. It’s why he tells one woman, “Neither do I condemn you,” to free her from her shame. It’s why Christians still practice the Sabbath, to be free from the incessant tyranny of productivity. And it’s why Christians throughout church history have held sexual expression in such high and exclusive regard, to be free from the prison of lust and free to love people for more than what we can take from them.
The question is worth asking, and worth considering, do you believe the teachings of Jesus are about freedom?
It’s also worth noting that freedom is not just about being able to do something, but also being able to not do something. Here’s a somewhat extreme (but much too common) example: while sure, you are free to engage in substances and drugs recreationally, it would be difficult to find someone experiencing addiction to those things that feels “free,” because while we are free to explore this world and all it has to offer, we should be mindful of the things that promise freedom but actually steal it from us. Freedom has a double edge, and to me, that is both a tremendous gift and responsibility, simultaneously.
So I’m not sure where you’re at, or what you want, but I want to be free. Not “free from eternal damnation”, or “free from being on God’s bad side.” I want to be free from shame, compulsion, and hatred. From having to get my way. From having to prove my worth to anyone, including myself; including God. From having to be certain about things, my future, or how this is all going to shake down. From having to be recognized, acclaimed, or even noticed. From the suffocating bondage of lesser things like cheap intimacy, numbing agents, or temporal possessions. As, once again, the Apostle Paul says, I want to “throw off the weights and sins that cling so closely.”
Not only do I want to be free from a few things, I want to be free to do a few things. I want to be free to tell the truth, speak my mind, and make my desires known. To celebrate the success of another, as if it was my own. To admit our helplessness which is the basis of prayer and the only entrance into the kingdom of God.
At this point, we need to be careful, because there is another misstep lying in wait for us. It can be easy to assume that the goal of freedom is in itself freedom. We can come to believe that our freedom is self-serving and that the goal of all of life is to be free just for the sake of being free. And while there is certainly so much to say about the benefits to our psyche and experience of life from a place of freedom, it simply is not the end. To finish the Apostle Paul’s words to the Galatians we referenced earlier, “For you were called to freedom, friends; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
The end use of our freedom is not solely to make us lighter, happier, more grateful people, but then to use that life to serve those around us. We get to be free from the tyranny of scarcity, and therefore able to give abundantly to our brother or sister. We aim to be free to surrender to the loving call of God in the here and now, the here and now as it is, not as we would prefer it. Free to see the Divine’s gaze on us and those around us.
So here’s my invitation: where do you feel trapped, and what does it mean to get free? Where is fear ruling your mind? Where is your soul in bondage? Where is your heart still mastered and obedient to lesser, loveless gods? Talk with someone. Your freedom is possible, it is what the world is aching for. To allow the Christian life to be anything less than the pursuit of such freedom is to sell yourself short of your rightful status as an image of God.