It is the month of July, a time when Americans in particular
celebrate freedom. We celebrate the freedom of speech, press, religion, guns,
etc. To make sure everyone know how excited we are about those freedoms we host
fireworks displays, parades, and festivals.
Over the last few years there has been an increase in
talking about standing up for freedoms, Christians have lined up at Chic-fil-a
to buy a sandwich to support the owners right to free speech, they have rallied
around Hobby Lobby and the right to not deny their religious conscience in their
business. More generally, churches today have lined up behind the view of personal
liberty. Nothing is really off limits as long as you are ok with it. I am one
of the first to admit that culture is rapid changing and the church needs to
minister to the culture we live in, but the best form of ministry isn't
imitation.
The biggest freedom Christians have is one that no one
seems to be talking about. We have been given the freedom to NOT sin! Galatians 5:1 says, “For freedom Christ has
set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of
slavery.” As a pastor, father, man, and Christian I cannot explain why people
get saved and then celebrate the ability to go back into the same sins God
saved them from in the first place. It isn't spiritual maturity that gives you
the freedom do whatever, spiritual maturity gives you the freedom to give
everything up for Christ.
One of the greatest lies the modern church in America has
accepted is that we are free to live on the edge of obedience, on the edge of
worldliness, on the edge of truth, on the edge of sin. We have become used to
hearing statements like these:
“I can drink as long as I don't get drunk”
“I can listen to music about sex, drugs, etc. as long as
I don't do that myself”
“I can attend church when I feel like it as long as I say
that I love attending”
“I can watch any movie I want, regardless how many times
they curse, the amount of nudity, supporting homosexuality, and the open
mocking of God as long as it is funny or popular.”
“I can wear whatever I want, you can't tell me what is
modest. If people struggle with my attire it is their heart issue, not my
fault.”
We may not always say these out loud, but we say them
with our actions. Why is that we are so willing to cite personal freedom as
permission to live more like the world, and we never want to cite biblical
freedom to live less like it? I would contend that our heart is more wicked
than we would like to admit. No matter your religious training or how long you
have been saved, our heart tends to fall back into pride and self-reliance with
great ease.
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