The Limits of Freedom
Christianity is a global religion. Christians live everywhere, and in every conceivable set of circumstances. At this very moment a Christian living in Vietnam is praying. A Christian living in Nigeria is providing medical care at a rural clinic. A Christian living in China is protesting human rights violations. A Christian living in France mourns how empty churches have been for too long. Each Christian is figuring out how to be Christian in his or her particular setting.
For this reason Christianity often produces resourceful people—adaptive, creative, and flexible. Christians learn languages, adjust to different cultural customs, and adapt to various political systems and ideologies. In the past Christians have learned to function in a monarchy and a dictatorship. They have survived under communism and fascism, often at a huge cost. They have even thrived under persecution. They take the Great Commission seriously. Hence the resourcefulness.
Christians have been doing this for a very long time. Learn, adapt, and adjust, yes. But compromise, no. That is the tension in which Jesus calls us to live.
I am an American, and glad to be so. It is here, in America, that I must work out what it means to follow Jesus, and to do it resourcefully. It is no different from a Christian living in another part of the world.
This is what makes both Christianity and Christians peculiar. Christians live everywhere. They hold to the same faith, follow the same practices, live the same lifestyle, but adapt to different circumstances. They learn how to fit in, but they refuse to be taken in and to buy in. They maintain just enough distance to see things from a kingdom point of view.
Freedom is part of the American creed. Ask anyone about what makes America unique and you will hear the word “freedom” almost immediately, and not something more high-minded like “separation of powers” or “rule of law.”
The quest for freedom is a noble sentiment and a worthy principle because freedom is a precious gift. As the First Amendment states, we are free to believe, or not to believe, free to speak as we wish, free to assemble and state grievances, and so forth. We are free to pursue our interests and to protect our rights. Who wouldn’t choose to live in a free country?
But freedom is not an ultimate principle, nor is it the greatest of all gifts. Once we elevate it to an ultimate principle, it becomes an ideology, and it will eventually self-destruct, which it appears to be doing right now.
I read a bumper sticker last week that stated: “Masks won’t defeat Covid. Freedom will.” Really?
Christians fit in. But they won’t be taken in and don’t always buy in. Freedom can never be an absolute.
Consider Paul’s counsel to slave and free. He urged slaves to secure their freedom if they could, reasoning that, all things considered, it is better to be free than slave.
Still, Christians think differently about such things. How Christians define slavery and freedom is a good case in point. The apostle Paul turns our understanding upside down. “For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters. In whatever condition you were called, brothers and sisters, there remain with God” (I Cor. 7:22-24).
Jesus Christ gives us freedom by making us his slaves. Jesus Christ teaches us how to use our freedom responsibly—to care for the least of these, to protect the weaker members of the community, to strive for justice so that our freedom becomes everyone’s freedom. Or else it is no freedom at all.
I wear a mask. It is a silly example. I sacrifice just a little bit of my freedom—and it is so very little, really—for the common good. Sadly, it is not silly any more. I have heard people say, “I am not afraid of this virus, I don’t mind getting it, and I am not at risk. My freedom is more important than a mask. It is my right.” But your freedom affects other people. Those people need your kindness and compliance. Paul reasoned that, though Christians were [in his day] free to eat whatever they wished, they nevertheless had to elevate the needs of “weaker” brothers and sisters [who followed stricter dietary customs] above their freedom. After all, “Christ did not please himself” but sacrificed his freedom for us and our salvation (Romans 14:1-2).
There are limits to freedom, as there are limits to most good things. Without limits those good things quickly turn bad. The health of others and needs of health care workers are more important than my freedom.
I am free—in Christ. I am a slave—to Christ. I am called to use freedom for the good of others.
Wear a mask. Please.