If there is one word in America we love more than any other it is the word free. The word free shows up almost everywhere you look. Slogans such as; “Buy one get one free”, “Try it free for 30 days”, “Free shipping”, and “Download our free app” are just a few of the common phrases that bombard our senses everyday. Grocery stores even try to sell us products that are fat free, cholesterol free, or free of hormones or additives. Freedom has been embedded in our culture as Americans from the beginning. The founding fathers formed our government around principles such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to bear arms, etc… to be the pillars of our democracy. Our national anthem punctuates this concept by describing our nation as, “the land of the Free.” But what is true freedom, how do we get it, and what are we called to do with this freedom?
The concept of freedom unfortunately has come to mean something entirely different in our modern culture. Freedom in the 21st Century has come to be thought of as the ability to do what you want to do, and it is the absence of any constraints keeping a person from fulfilling their wants. New York Times columnist Mark Lilla wrote in his article “Getting Religion” that he at one time was flirting with Christianity. After reading John 3 where Jesus is talking to Nicodemous about being born again Lilla suggested, “Jesus seems to be telling Nicodemus that he must recognize his insufficiency, turn his back on his autonomous happy life, and be reborn as one who understands his dependence on something greater. That seems like a radical challenge to our freedom, and it is.” This modern version of freedom is about not giving up our autonomy. It focuses on the self and making sure no one or no thing keeps you from doing what you want to do. This view is embraced by many in our modern culture today, but a closer look at this view will show it doesn’t work as it is overly simplistic and not consistent with reality.
Tim Keller illustrates this simplistic version by telling a story about an elderly man who loves to eat unhealthy food, but is told by his doctor that if he continues his poor eating habits he will become sick, unhealthy, and die an early death. The elderly man then is faced with a choice. He can either put constraints on his eating habits and experience the freedom that health brings to his body, or he can continue to eat whatever he desires and lose the health of his physical body. This is one of many illustrations that could be used to ask the question: what happens when our desires contradict? The elderly man, like all of us, will have to make a choice about what constraints he will put on his life so he can enjoy the deeper wants of his heart, and experience freedom in areas of his life that are the most important. This principle is true in every area of our life whether it be our health, our finances, or our relationships. The modern version of freedom then is completely unworkable and can unfortunately lead people down a path of confusion, disappointment, and even despair.
True freedom then is not simply the absence of constraints or simply doing what you want. The Biblical understanding of Freedom, the true understanding of freedom is the power to do what you ought to do. True Freedom can only be found then when a person is in a saving relationship with their Heavenly Father. What we ought to do is connected with who we were created to be, and that is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. It is constraining yourself in certain areas so you can experience the fullness of who God created you to be. How do we get this real true freedom? The simple answer is by following Jesus, but what does getting this freedom look like?
To experience true freedom we must embrace the truth about who we are and who we were created to be. In Robert Stephenson’s famous book Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde we see a virtuous man (Dr. Jekyll) attempting to free himself from the dark and evil thoughts that plagued him. Dr. Jekyll’s wrestling with these thoughts and desires was similar to what the Apostle Paul describes in Romans 7:19-20 where he states, “What I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin living in me that does it.” In order to solve this problem, Henry Jekyll creates a potion that can change him to Edward Hyde. Mr. Hyde as a different person then lives out the unrestrained evil desires, the hidden desires of Dr. Jekyll. Stephenson’s Dr. Jekyll states, “If each, I told myself, could be housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of all that was unbearable; the unjust might go his way, delivered from the aspirations and remorse of his more upright twin; and the just could walk steadfastly and securely on his upward path, doing the good things in which he found his pleasure, and no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil.” Dr. Jekyll was searching for this contemporary version of freedom by removing any restraints from his desires.
To his dismay Henry Jekyll realizes this doesn’t work, and this created solution is really no solution at all. As time passes Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde more and more, and eventually he needs to take the potion to become Henry Jekyll. In Dr. Jekyll’s attempt to be more free he actually becomes a slave to Mr. Hyde as he concludes, “I became, in my own person, a creature eaten up and emptied by fever, languidly weak both in body and mind, and solely occupied by one thought: the horror of my other self.” Dr. Jekyll comes to the same realization that the Apostle Paul does after describing this inner battle with the self. The Apostle Paul confesses, “What a wretched man I am!” Dr. Jekyll, seeing no way out of this horror, commits suicide and kills both Edward Hyde and Dr. Jekyll. Attempting to fight this inner self with the self will lead to the destruction of the self. The Apostle Paul however acknowledges the solution to this problem comes from outside himself. Paul says after admitting his wretched state, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” It turns out we do not need a potion then to be free, we need a Savior. Will we face this same reality in our lives? If we are unwilling to acknowledge the problem we will be unable to fully embrace the solution.
So how do we get this true freedom? As we stated earlier, this true freedom can only be experienced when one is in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Without the Holy Spirit living inside of us, we are not capable of doing what we ought to do. We will be a slave to the desire to gratify our flesh, whether it be through harmful behaviors or altruistic actions. Ultimately these actions will be centered around ourselves, and our ability to say no to the self will be absent. A saving relationship with our Heavenly Father, however, only sets the stage for us to experience true freedom, it does not guarantee we will experience it.
True freedom can only be experienced through a life of obedience to our Heavenly Father. Jesus explains this in John 8:31-32 where he states, “if you hold to his teaching you are his disciple, then you will know the truth and the truth sets you free.” In our culture the idea freedom coming through obedience sounds counter intuitive. Isn’t obedience towards someone restraining my freedom? The truth is anytime we restrain our sinful desires, we become free to experience the deepest longings of our heart. Our 16 year old daughter mentioned to my wife and me the other day that she had a lot more freedom from her parents than other kids her age. She mentioned that we haven’t given her a set curfew, and that it seemed like she gets a lot more yeses than nos to her requests. It was the perfect time for me to explain to our daughter why she has more freedom and less rules and restrictions. While our daughter is not perfect and is a sinner in need of a savior like all of us, she has proven to her mom and me to be very responsible and wise for her age. She has prioritized her relationship with the Lord in her devotional life, her choosing of friendships, and in the activities she chooses to participate and not participate in. It is because of her obedience that she has less restrictions and more freedom. When we are obedient to our Heavenly Father in our daily life, we are free to become the person he has created us to be.
Finally, what are we to do with this freedom from the power of sin that can be experienced through a life of obedience? Galatians 5:13 gives us the answer explicitly, “You my brother and sisters were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh, rather serve one another humbly in love.” The short answer then is we are called to serve with this freedom. The heart of service is putting someone else's needs above your own. Jesus says in John 8:34-35, “Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Jesus calls us to serve not because we are forced to serve out of duty like a slave, but to serve out of love in response to the love our Savior has shown us in making us his children. To conclude it was the great hymn writers John Newton, who was a slave trader prior to becoming a Christian, and William Cowper, who suffered from great personal loss and extreme depression, who penned these beautiful worlds:
Our pleasure and our duty,
Though opposite before,
Since we have seen His beauty
Are joined to part no more.
