The Tension of Freedom and Responsibilty

 

Is freedom the greatest value for a follower of Christ? Did Jesus say that all men will know you are my disciples if you fight for freedom?  Was Jesus' main mission here to bring political freedom from a tyrannical government? We know the answer to that—from a worldly lens, it appeared Jesus had his freedom taken away from a tyrannical government.  Although freedom is a fundamental right, and placed high on our list of core values, there is one value that trumps freedom, and that is love.  The highest value for followers of Christ is love. Paul stated it quite clearly, “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil, rather, serve one another in love.” Thus, with freedom comes responsibility, the resposibility to love.  The more responsible we are with our freedom, the more we gain; likewise, the less responsible we are with our freedom, the more we lose.

As I write this, our nation is reeling from another school shooting in Michigan.  It is alleged in the article that the 15-year-old shooter used a 9mm automatic pistol that belonged to his father, a prime example of being irresponsible with our freedom which gives the government the perfect opportunity to impose gun control. How did this boy get his hands on a gun that his father owned? It appears that the father bought it legally, which means, to those who hold strongly to the second amendment, and I do, he was one of our own. Purchasing, carrying, and owning guns freely involves a tremendous responsibility to our fellow man. We must err on the side of extreme caution; anything less is a selfish use of our freedom. Furthermore, as believers in Christ, we need to mourn with those who mourn and be careful not to be a noisy gong posting memes about how guns have nothing to do with the shooting. Guns did have something to do with it. Yes, guns don’t kill people, but it does make it much easier to kill people. Let’s be sensitive, a meme solves nothing and may come off as callous and uncaring. Think of the terrible suffering of those who lost their child and how callous we might sound ‘fighting for our rights.”

This never-ending tension between freedom and responsibility can be seen in all areas of life. Individuals who use their freedom irresponsibly might wind up in prison.  A prisoner sitting in a jail cell summed it up perfectly, “All my life I was rebellious. No one was going to tell me what to do. I wanted to be free from all control.  The irony is, now someone tells me when to eat, sleep, go outside and go to the bathroom.” 

I am a free-market capitalist all the way, but if the corporations are going to be free from government regulation, they need to be responsible and loving with their freedom.  If the bottom line is the almighty dollar, they will be selfish with their freedom. We have all witnessed the greed of corporations’ misuse of freedom.  If a corporation builds a factory in a community, they need to bless that community by treating workers with love and respect and  investing back into the community in various ways.  Instead, all too often, corporations look for ways to cut corners and wind up harming the community by polluting waterways, poisoning wells and mistreating workers. Sometimes they release defective products into the marketplace.  The government, therefore, steps in and imposes regulations, taxes, and penalties.  Since the politicians have become involved, free-market capitalism is gone. Irresponsible use of freedom resulted is a loss of freedom.   The crony capitalism we see today should be opposed, but what most of us don’t realize are the those that rail against the big corporations the loudest are the ones deepest in bed with them. Did you ever notice that nothing really ever changes? I digress.

These are trying times, and the Body of Christ needs to be on their toes. We must be very careful not to conflate politics and religion. It was the mix of politics and religion that put Jesus on the cross. Here in the USA, as depicted on social media, people are gorging off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and then puking all over each other.   We are not called to feast off of that tree. Remember, it is a very seductive tree. It looks really good.  Name calling, mudslinging and condemnation have no place. We are called to something much higher. No matter who is in office, what government we live under, our mission remains the same.  We have the good news. We have the answer. Jesus is the Answer is not some catch phrase. It is the absolute core of the GOOD NEWS.  This world is not our home.  If we really pray, “Thy kingdom come,” our kingdom must go.  The kingdoms of this world are passing away.  Freedom is the highest value of a kingdom of this world.  Love is the highest value of the Kingdom of God. It even trumps justice.  If you are a righty, you have to love the lefty. If you are a lefty, you have to love the righty.  You don’t have to like them, or whip up some false sentiment. Loving them may be to simply let them be. Loving them may be forgiving them openly before God and praying for them.  Loving them might be listening. Listen to them explain to you why they are in the “other camp” without judging, condemning or arguing—you just might learn something.

We are free with an eternal freedom already. If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. We are free to love. This is much easier said then done, but a good place to begin would be asking God to show us how to love those we don’t really like.