July 2, 2006

Cawson St. Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

Responsibilities of Freedom

 

Introduction

 

Freedom and responsibility go together.  Sometimes young people wish that their parents would just leave them alone.  What do they mean by that?  They want to be free to do whatever they desire.   No one, adults or children, are free to act or speak as they please.  We are not free to sin, but we are free from sin and its bondage.  We are either the “servants of sin or servants of righteousness.”  (Rom. 6:16-18.) 

 

The present ongoing debate on freedoms of speech and practice of religion well illustrate the misunderstanding of the meaning of freedom.  Should we be free to burn the American flag?   Are Christians free to burn copies of the Bible, since they are free in Christ?  The act of burning copies of the Bible does not remove God from existence or destroy His Word, but it does reflect upon the one doing it.  If we are permitted to burn the flag which represents our nation, then we misunderstand something fundamental about what freedom means.  We want no limitations placed on our rights, but we desire to minimize our responsibilities.  Individual rights or freedoms are always limited by the rights of others.  Freedom is always hedged in by other considerations.  It does not exist alone.

 

Biblical References

 

“As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.”  (1 Peter 2:16.)  “For, brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”  (Gal. 5:13.)  Here are two warnings or cautions about freedom in Scripture.  Earlier to the Galatians, Paul wrote, “We are children not of the bondwoman, but of the free.”  (4:31.)  Christians are blessed with greater freedoms than the world can ever imagine.  But great freedoms bring great responsibilities.  It does not speak about a lack of restraint and self-control, but a greater maturity and self-denial.

If freedom of a nation or of Christians is abused or misunderstood, then there will always be a corresponding loss of real freedom.  Freedom is never absolute, or without price, or easily obtained.  There is a tendency toward bondage, not toward freedom.  There are many things that seek to bind us.  Freedom must be understood in order to be maintained.

 

Illustration.  In the New York harbor stands the famous Statue of Liberty, given to the US by the French in 1866.  It symbolizes the alliance between the USA and France, but also represents the ideal of liberty.  Someone said that we need another statute placed on the western coast.  This second statute should be called “the Statute of Responsibility.”  Having both of these, then we would have the complete picture.  Any one alone is incomplete and insufficient, but both provide what man needs as citizens and Christians.

 

Freedom is always a gamble, politically and religiously.  People wonder when nations under bondage, like Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans, and Hitler’s Germany, are set free, will they survive?  Was the cost worth it?  Won’t tyrants just come back afterwards and put the people in a worse condition than before?  These fears are not without merit because those who have recently been set free have the least strength to live as free men.  They are not accustomed to it.  They do not understand what freedom is.  The book of Hebrews is a spiritual example of the difficulty of living as free people.  The danger always exists of freed people going back under bondage.  There is a certain security in bondage.  How difficult it is for people who are incarcerated for years to live as free men and women.  They often return to the security of a cell.  They become “institutionalized.”

 

The word, rights, is often invoked.  Freedom of speech, rights of immigrants, feminists’ rights, gay rights, rights of detainees captured during battle, civil rights, human rights, animal rights—all indicate the extreme to which we have gone as a nation and the dangers of freedom without responsibility.

 

Warning: There is a danger when we continue to press for unlimited rights without corresponding responsibilities.

 

To Seek After the Greater Freedom

 

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.”  (John 8:36.)  “If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed.  You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  (John 8:31-32.)

 

When Jesus talked about freedom, he was not talking about political freedom or freedom of speech.  He had a greater freedom in mind.  Often men think about those freedoms that are self-centered and self-serving.  Just as there are many different kinds and levels of freedom, there are many different forms of bondage.

 

Here is an important passage:  “There is neither Jew nor Greek.  There is neither bond nor free.  There is neither male nor female.  For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  (Gal. 3:28.)  What do these comparisons mean?  They mean that everyone can have access to the Gospel and its salvation.  It does not matter if one is male or female, Jew or Greek.  In like manner, it does not matter if one is free or in bondage (politically, physically or financially).  One should not be concerned about those differences.  There is something else more important.

 

Paul and Silas were imprisoned for preaching the Gospel in Philippi.  But while inside the jail with their backs bleeding, they were singing and praying.  Standing just outside guarding them was a free Roman soldier.  The Romans boasted of the greatest freedoms of the world.  No one stood on equality with a Roman for over five centuries.  But which was really free?  The Roman soldier or the prisoners who were singing.  (Acts 16:25, 30.)

 

It is good to live in a free country, politically.  But even as great as that is, it is not the greatest freedom.  Paul wrote to Timothy: “Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound.  Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sake that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” (2 Tim. 2:9-10.)  The messenger and apostle of freedom suffered bonds so that others might be free.

 

Quote:  “As we stand in the world, bound with a thousand bonds, we gradually can shake off the effects of its powerful shackles only if we achieve inward freedom, knowing that, come what may, worldly chains will have no power over us.”  (Dr. Albert Schweitzer.)

 

The most important freedom that one can possess is to have the freedom of Christ.  The other freedoms pale in comparison.  If we possess this one freedom, all is well even if we do not possess the others.  My freedom to speak, to write, to travel, and to vote are secondary matters to the freedom Jesus gives.  Paul wrote, “Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage.”  (Gal. 5:1.)  This is a very specific freedom that is more important than all the rest.  We have a responsibility to seek after this freedom for all mankind.  Getting innocent political prisoners out of jail in Cuba or China is not the most important thing in life.

 

To Expose and Condemn Bondage

 

The prophets of Israel lifted up their voices against those who promoted injustice in the land for base gain.  Isaiah wrote, “None calls for justice, nor pleads for truth. They trust in vanity and speak lies.  They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.”  (Isa. 59:4; see verses 1-15.)  Amos is known for his powerful words on justice.  He proclaimed, “Let judgment roll down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.”  (Amos 5:24.) For this reason, the Lord rejected their worship.  He said, “I hate, I despise your feast days.  I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.”  (5:21-23.)  Israel shamelessly allowed the rich to take advantage of the poor.  The powerful misused their power for their own advantage.  The root cause of most injustice is greed.

 

I heard a shocking report this week of abuses among poor people from countries like China.  They paid abusers large sums of money to help them escape from the poverty of their homeland.  They were promised good jobs and freedom.  But they had to give up their passports and work long hours under difficult circumstances.  These factories are often referred to as sweatshops.  The daily quotas are often raised demanding more and more out of the workers.  They are forced to sign the paperwork that they were paid their wages, but often they were not.  They left poverty and bondage in their homeland for bondage in another land.  What cruelty to promise someone freedom and then abuse them worse than they were before!  Global trade agreements, like NAFTA, have increased the problems.  Participating countries develop “free trade zones” which are free from the standards set by the host countries.  Lower wages, longer hours, and poor living conditions are typical.

 

It is the responsibility of those who are free to speak out against all forms of bondage.  Human beings should be treated with dignity and respect, not as something to be used and discarded.  It has too often been the case that those who are free citizens have been the ones who abuse others.  The early church was once persecuted by the Roman government.  After three centuries, the Roman government favored the church.  Then the once persecuted church persecuted and tortured others who disagreed with it.

 

Paul wrote to the Galatian churches to condemn the new bondage being brought upon the Gentiles.  He denounced it boldly saying that he would not give place, no not for an hour that the truth of the Gospel might continue.  (Gal. 2:5.)  Religions often bring a bondage of their own.  But true Christianity is for man’s good.  There is nothing that should enslave or harm man in any way.  If it does, then it is not of God.  It is true that NT writers often referred to themselves as servants of the Lord.  But this bondage is not harmful, adverse, or destructive to the body, soul or spirit.  It makes men free and whole.

 

To Be Grateful

 

It seems to me that one of the greatest responsibilities of being free is to be grateful.  To be born free, as Paul said, usually means that someone else provided the freedom for you.  We were born into a free country because of the sacrifices of so many.  We were born personally free because of the diligence of parents and friends.  We are free spiritually because of the work of Jesus Christ.  Our duty is to express thanksgiving to the One who set us free.  “Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.”  (Gal. 5:1.)  Like the Samaritan leper, we should turn back and thank the Lord who set us free.  (Luke 17:15-18.)