The calling to be free

“Quit keeping score altogether and surrender yourself with all your sinfulness to God who sees neither the score nor the score-keeper, but only his child redeemed by Christ.” – Thomas Merton

We live in a society which is obsessed with freedoms. More appropriately we are experiencing a culture which is preoccupied with a distorted realization of freedom which is based in right, entitlement and obligation. We have obscured a real nature of freedom for an idea of exchange in bondage for the liberty to act. As Soren Kierkegaard spoke, “People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.” The exchange of concept for reality takes belief, faith and action in response to interaction and acceptance of truth. We get caught in the quagmire of misunderstanding freedom, being bound to exercising our will as the demonstration of our freedom. Understanding freedom tempered by our right as humans, is a limiting construct due to our nature.(i.e. freedom in grace – Mother Theresa, freedom in ambition – Adolf Hitler) When we propose a contract of social justice in confusion with conceptual freedoms, we open up our hearts to living by expectation and discouragement. Our “freedoms” become hinged on the respect and adherence to ideals of our social contract instead of independently defined in the existence of the innate power of true freedom. When our freedom is trampled upon in this way, we become incensed, angry and retaliatory to what we come to believe we “deserve.” This is the path to resistance of true freedom, and the exchange to bondage of consequence and duality of ideal paradigm and actual reality. True freedom relieves the consequences involved in the existence and experience of itself. This is freedom which is not dependent on the entity which experiences it to define or subjectively interpret its reality or existence. This is the kind of freedom we are called to in Christ.

God has wonderfully and fearfully made us. We are the object of his affection. God has called us to live in the wondrous freedom of his care. As God sent his Son as the propitiation for our sin, we are embraced in a freedom we could never earn, never merit and would never know without the action of the Almighty. When we calmly acknowledge ourselves in the heart of the Father, we know the peaceful benefit of the freedom from ourselves that we only know in Him. We are freed from the myriad of psychological suppression about our own concepts of who we are, what we should be concerned with, and how we should live. We are freed from the oppression of a life marked by sin and eternal consequence of separation from God. We are freed from trying to get life to reward us for the actions and accomplishments of experience. We are freed from our ever present need to change ourselves and situationally adapt to circumstances, for the ability to rely on the all encompassing provision of the Father. When we embrace the freedom of his provision and insight into our lives, we understand our context to be centered in Him. In the interaction of details and experience, we interpret them through the perspective of being his child. When we come to identify ourselves in our own minds and in the conception of how He sees us – as free in light of the loving work of Christ; we come to know the peace of a life defined in the grace of his provision and not the rights, entitlements, or results of freedoms due to our action and accomplishment. Being free in Christ allows us to experience Him in the way he intended: As little children, content in the caring arms of the Savior, dependent upon his gracious gifts of life and love. Freedom in Christ is being able to contently look up at Him, crawl into his lap and rest securely in the Savior who died so that we could experience his love. He stands with open arms and quiet words for us to come near and be changed by his freedom. He stands in the center of our lives quietly calling us, whispering “be free”; that our desires would liken to his, that we may experience the reliance and powerlessness of a child, and sing and dance and play in the love and freedom of God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Paul’s words in Galatians 5 encourage us on the path to knowing the freedom of being a child in Christ: “It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life… My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s spirit. What happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard – things like affection for others, exuberance about life; serenity. We develop a willingness to stick through things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energy wisely… Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we don’t just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out it’s implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is original!”