Opportunity for Freedom

Yesterday a few of us walked around our city asking God to let us see through His eyes what He is concerned about and get a pulse of His heart for His people where we live.

We ended up in front of a replica of the Liberty Bell at St. John's. Underneath a worn brass plate had the words, "In standing before this symbol you have the opportunity to dedicate yourself as did our founding fathers to the principles of individual freedom for which our nation stands."

An opportunity to dedicate myself to be a person of freedom.

When I think of freedom, a lot comes to my mind.

There is driving in a convertible.

There is appreciation for others who have fought in wars so that I can pursue God with little fear of persecution. The freedom of being a citizen here in the United States.

There is financial freedom.

But there is a deeper freedom that needs to be explored. It's the freedom Jesus speak about.

In the Scriptures there is this cool passage in Paul's letter to the church in Galatia. He tells us we are called to freedom, but warns us not to let our freedom turn in to an opportunity for the flesh (basically self centeredness). He says that by lovingly serving one another, freedom will be a part of our lives. In fact, all the Law, or guidelines God gives us, can be summed up in one statement, "you shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Freedom comes from giving yourself to others? In caring for them above yourself?

That sounds contrary to what many of us hear/do nowadays. Freedom in our society is like something you do for yourself, often at the expense of others.

Jesus' way seems so opposite.

My dad often pulls this thought from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who died in a concentration camp under Hitler. He says "the greatest love we can have for our brother is their freedom." In other words, if we love someone and desire the best for them, we will come alongside them and help them anyway we can so they will be free.

Is Jesus' way really so different? I guess I have seen it work and come to believe His way and teaching in this area is true. When someone comes along and helps me through a difficult time or situation, my desire to "pay it forward" is very strong.

When I help and love others, there is a deep satisfaction that is hard to put words around.

My default button is set on a self-centeredness idea of freedom. Sometimes I need a jolt, like the one I had yesterday before at the Liberty Bell, to be reminded of the deeper desire to be a person of Freedom-a person who follows the way of Jesus and His way of freedom.

I am taking this opportunity today to dedicate myself to be a person who is about freedom.



Here is a little more of Bonhoeffer if you want to go deeper on this :

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:2). Thus the law of Christ is a law of bearing. Bearing means forbearing and sustaining... The Christian must suffer and endure the brother. It is only when he is a burden that another person is really a brother and not merely an object to be manipulated. It is, first of all, the freedom of the other person that is a burden to the Christian. The freedom of the other person includes all that we mean by a person's nature, individuality, endowment. It also includes his weaknesses and oddities, which are such a trial to our patience, everything that produces frictions, conflicts, and collisions among us. Then, there is the abuse of that freedom that becomes a burden for the Christian."