On Christian Freedom

I've been thinking a lot about freedom recently.  Not freedom as it is often talked about in our American political discourse, but rather about Christian freedom.  The freedom we have as people who have been claimed and loved by God Almighty, redeemed and called by Jesus Christ, gifted and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  I thought about freedom when I was at the Credo conference in Texas a few weeks back, I've thought about it repeatedly since then, and a week or two ago I thought about it in conjunction with a discussion at the Disciple Bible study on Paul's letter to the Galatians - an "ancient emancipation proclamation," it has been called.  I read Galatians carefully and underlined every instance of the words "free" or "freedom," then underlined every instance of the words "slavery" or "slavery" or "enslaved," and then I underlined the words "redeem" and "redeemed."  There are a lot of references to Christian freedom in that letter!  Paul's whole point in that letter was to declare boldly that "for freedom Christ has set us free!"

But what is Christian freedom, and how do we experience it?  While I don't have a fully formed answer to that question yet, I offer here some preliminary thoughts.

We experience Christian freedom when God delivers us from bondage.  The Old Testament tells the story of God delivering the Israelites from slavery; the New Testament tells the story of God delivering us from sin and death.  There are a multitude of forces and powers that try to enslave us.  Some people are burdened by depression; others struggle with low self-esteem.  Some have become enslaved to drugs or alcohol or any of numerous other addictions; others are ensnared by harmful messages they absorbed in their childhood and youth.  Some are stuck in jobs that do not fufill them; others are caught in relationships that suffocate them.  Some can't seem to escape from financial worry and debt; others can't seem to escape from violence or warfare.  There are all sorts of ways in which we might be living in bondage here and now.  The good news of the gospel is that God delivers us from bondage.  It might not happen overnight.  (How long were the Israelites slates in Egypt?)  It might not be an easy journey.  (How much did they grumble and complain in the wilderness?)  It might require tremendous acts of courage.  (How terrified were they of the Canaanites?)  But God does deliver us.  That's the biblical story, and that's the story that many people have experienced in their own personal life.  The freedom that comes through deliverance from bondage leads us to cry out with joy and gladness to God; it gives us profound reasons to bow down and worship the God who saves us.

We experience Christian freedom when we respond faithfully to God's love and grace in Jesus Christ.  The gospels tell the story of Jesus Christ reaching out to the lonely, the least, and the lost with love and grace in Jesus Christ.  People were presented with numerous opportunities to respond to the gospel message.  Some responded with hostility, anger, jealousy, and greed.  But others responded with faith and trust.  They recognized that what Jesus was offering them was something powerful, something cleansing, something healing.  Something that could set them free.  They left behind their former lives - fishermen, tax collectors, political rebels, whatever - so that they could follow in the footsteps of their new Master.  They became eager learners, students, followers, disciples.  They accompanied Jesus on his travels; they supported his ministry with their financial offerings; they were commissioned to go out two-by-two to do acts of mercy in Jesus' name.  They grew.  They changed.  They were freed.  Rejoicing in their newfound freedom, they accompanied Jesus triumphantly to Jerusalem, where their faith would be put to the ultimate test.  The freedom that the first disciples of Christ experienced is a freedom that can also be ours when we respond faithfully, as they did, to God's love and grace in Jesus Christ.  That means letting go of some things we might prefer to hold on to.  That means no longer continuing to do things just because "we've always done it that way before."  That means stepping out of our comfort zones to embrace a better, richer, fuller life.  That means choosing to follow in the footsteps of a certain Master.  That means reading and studying and discussing God's word.  That means pondering with great sincerity the implications of the gospel for our everyday living.  That means becoming more committed to ministry in Christ's name.  It may sound scary - perhaps even downright frightening - at first.  But I know nobody who has responded faithfully to God's love and grace in Jesus Christ and regretted it.  Not one single person.  On the contrary, I can think of countless individuals whose lives have been richly blessed when they gave Christ more room to work in their hearts and in their lives.

We experience Christian freedom when the Holy Spirit empowers us with boldness and courage to do the challenging things that God is calling us to do.  The book of Acts tells the story of the Holy Spirit coming upon Christ's disciples, calling them to spread the gospel far and wide.  They cured people from various diseases; they cast out demons; they gave generously to the mission of the church and to the poor in their midst; they brought the gospel message to thousands of people who never would have heard it otherwise.  They brought Christian freedom to people who were living in bondage.  They faced incredible hardship along the way.  They were ridiculed, imprisoned, beaten, and sometimes even killed.  Yet they knew how crucial their message was, how vital.  They went to great lengths - and great risks - to keep on going.  They refused to be deterred, no matter how great the danger.  The Holy Spirit came upon them, time and time again, giving them courage and boldness to do what God wanted them to do.  (Read the book of Acts and underline all the instances of the words "courage" and "boldness"!)  Countless Christians down through the centuries have also been empowered with boldness and courage to do the challenging things that God was calling them to do.  Some Christians fought valiantly against the oppressive forces of the Roman Catholic Church when it was in dire need of reformation.  Some Christians fought valiantly to free slaves in the New World.  Some Christians fought valiantly against Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime.  Some Christians fought valiantly on behalf of civil rights for African Americans.  Good, faithful Christians died for all of those causes.  Some Christians continue to fight valiantly here in our nation and around the world to bring the gospel message to people and places that aren't always eager to welcome it.  These Christians have been compelled by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  And so are we - anytime we muster up the courage necessary to do whatever it is that God is calling us to do.  God has given every single one of us a purpose, a destiny, a reason for being.  Living into that calling requires courage and boldness . . . which the Holy Spirit is eager to provide.

At the end of our study of Galatians in the Disciple Bible study, I posed the following questions to the participants: "In what ways do you feel that you are not fully experiencing freedom in Christ?  To whom or to what are you currently enslaved?  How can your faith in Christ lead you to a greater degree of freedom?  How can you break free?"  I posted the same set of questions on my Facebook page.  Michael Hauser responded (publicly) by saying "Those are some great questions."  He also suggested that the last question might be better phrased, "How can he set you free?" - and he's right; that is a much better way to put it.  A couple days later a friend of mine said that my post (in her words) "inspired me to work on my food addiction."  She's telling me that she is "going to replace it with something healthy . . . like starting hand quilting again."  Bravo!  Here's a woman who is realizing that the life she's living is not the life Christ wants her to live.  She's living in bondage; she wants to live in freedom.  She's praying to God for deliverance; she's responding faithfully to God's love and grace in Jesus Christ; she's asking the Holy Spirit to empower her with boldness and courage to do the challenging thing that God is calling her to do.

What about you?  In what ways do you feel that you are not fully experiencing freedom in Christ?  To whom or to what are you currently enslaved?  How can your faith in Christ lead you to a greater degree of freedom?  How can he set you free?

Peace and blessings,

Bill