Freedom, Independence, and Community

In John 8:31-38, Jesus talks about His truth setting people free.  Of course, the Jews who were listening to Him misunderstood what He was saying, thinking that it meant them as a nation, or some other similar line of thinking.  And yet, the freedom that Jesus was talking about was a much greater freedom.

Let's flash ahead to our current century, time, and place.  When you hear the word free, what do you think of?  As I ask around about this from time to time, the answers that tend to come out are along the lines of "no one tells me what to do", or "I can choose to do what I want to do".  The idea of freedom, at least in our North American context, seems to consist of being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want, and no one can tell you that it's wrong.

If that's our understanding of freedom, just imagine the impact that it will have on our faith community gatherings.  If we gather for worship, and we hear Jesus say something like "Take up your cross and follow me," while at the same time declaring us free, we're probably going to think that it's either one or the other, and of course, we're going to choose freedom.  And that is going to have a great deal of impact on our faith community.

Many Americans seem to think that they are free to gather with whatever group of Christians they want, or not even to have to gather.  But that is definitely not the kind of freedom that Jesus spoke of.  He spoke of freedom from the destructive, oppressive powers that impact people in their lives, souls, and faith lives.  Things like sin, death, or the power of the devil.  These are the kind of freedoms that Jesus has won for us.  And when we recognize our freedom from these, we want to celebrate and be around others who share that same freedom.

But who wants to be around someone who basically thinks and feels that no one can tell them what to do, and they can do whatever they choose.  What happens if they engage in some action that is harmful or destructive to another?  They've already established the boundary that you can't tell them that they can't do it.  This particular idea of freedom is devastating to community.

Sadly, right now I see that idea far too common in people's thinking.  I've even seen it in the life of my worshiping community.  Maybe you've even thought it from time to time.  If so, here's what I ask you to remember.  That's not the kind of freedom that Jesus came to give.  Jesus came to give us freedom to care for one another, to forgive one another, not to assert our own rights and do whatever we want to.