Freedom From a Slavery We’ve All Experienced

Discourse over the COVID-19 crisis has taken a curious turn in recent weeks with restrictions in place to prevent the spread of the virus being slowly lifted. Suddenly, concern has shifted to personal freedom. Does the government – federal and local – really have the authority to tell people not to go to work, or to engage in their favorite activities, including going to their chosen places of worship?

This flag displayed in historic Charleston,
S.C. honors our nation and all who gave
their lives to defend it.

This is particularly interesting as we observe another Memorial Day, dedicated annually to honor many thousands of Americans who have given their lives in wars through the centuries – all in the name of freedom. And I do hope that we all take some time to remember them and appreciate the fact that if it weren’t for them, we’d likely be living in some form of tyranny. They knew – and paid – the high cost of freedom.

Through the centuries, freedom has been at the forefront of the battlefield campaigns, seeking to ensure that citizens of the United States would be free to think and say and do whatever they wish. Blood shed both here and abroad, we recall on this national holiday, should not have been shed in vain.

We’ve become spoiled, but since the days of the Constitution’s writing, it’s become a basic American tradition to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Now, unfortunately, many of us take this for granted. When something arises to impede that pursuit, whether a pandemic, government edicts or anything else, we tend to get annoyed – or worse.

Perhaps this a lesson to be learned from the pandemic. Not to take too lightly the right to jump in the car and go to the mall, earn a living, worship as we choose, or root for our favorite sports teams in real-time action

Often, when the subject of freedom arises, there are those who point to its ugly antithesis, slavery. This will always be a dark chapter in American history. In some ways, its repercussions continue to be felt today. Sadly, even though it’s not widely reported, for many nations around the world slavery remains a reality, an unchanged fact of social norms and customs. Whether slavery ever will be extinguished on a global scale remains to be seen.

But when considering both freedom and slavery, in one real sense, we’ve all been enslaved. At least if we’re to believe what the Bible tells us.

“Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 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’” (John 8:34-36). So there’s bad news and good news. First, the bad news: From the beginning of time, sin has been the greatest slave owner of all. Adam and Eve set the precedent, when they defied one simple command God had given them. Since then, like a gene in our individual DNA, sin has been ensnaring us all and fights hard not to let go.

In a powerful passage, Romans 5-8, the apostle Paul explores this problem in depth. He writes, “just as sin entered the world through the one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned…” (Romans 5:12). There are no exceptions to this dreadful fact.

Then, the apostle begins to unfold the good news, expounding on the importance of Jesus Christ’s death and then, His resurrection: “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).

Later, Paul raises the subject of slavery – to sin. “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life” (Romans 6:21-22).

The apostle continues to expand on that truth in the succeeding chapters, but it boils down to the reality that apart from Christ, even though it seemed we were “free,” we actually we enslaved to sin, its impulses and desires. Being born again, made new in Christ, however, releases us from sin’s destructive tyranny. As he writes elsewhere, in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”

So as we pause in remembrance of the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives so we in America could enjoy the rights and freedoms we have, it would be good to reflect on an even greater sacrifice: Jesus Christ giving His life on the cross to provide the necessary atonement for a debt we could never pay, and offer freedom from sin, the tyrant that cannot be bound by nationality or ethnicity, culture, language or gender. Remember – and never forget.

Freedom Found in the Most Unusual Places

When you hear the word “freedom,” what comes to mind? Some people would say it means you can do whatever you want. Others might envision a bird soaring on high, free to fly wherever it chooses to go. For centuries, freedom has been one of the hallmarks of the United States, although there seems to be a push in some quarters to redefine what that means.

When I think of freedom, an image emerges that I’ve often seen while driving on the interstate through Kentucky: A thoroughbred horse cavorting in a sprawling meadow, at liberty to run as fast as it wants to within the confines of the pasture fencing. It’s free, but not so free that it can run onto the nearby interstate highway, putting itself and drivers passing by at risk.

One reason I’ve been thinking about this is because of a segment I caught recently on CBS’s “60 Minutes.” It was about a highly successful prison reform program; I tuned in late, so I didn’t get the name of the initiative or where the prison was located. But a comment from one of the prisoners, serving a lifetime sentence, stuck with me.

Not all prisoners are behind bars.

This inmate had begun mentoring other prisoners, teaching them how to make positive changes in their lives, anticipating their day of release from incarceration. The interviewer asked the lifer what he gets out of investing in fellow prisoners, since he has no hope of becoming freed from prison himself.

His response was simple: “Redemption. I don’t want to die a waste.”

It’s interesting that someone many of us would regard as the least free of all people would essentially being saying that this program has given him the freedom to find meaning in life. Describing himself as having “a Ph.D. in wrong choices,” the inmate saw his involvement in mentoring as giving him the freedom to make a difference in the world, even from behind bars.

The portion of the segment I saw made no mention of a Christian or biblical basis for this approach, which was dramatically reducing recidivism among ex-offenders that have been released. But I suspect there had to be a spiritual element to it. How often have you heard the word “redemption” used in connection with someone imprisoned? 

Can it be that, like the thoroughbred horse given great freedom within safe boundaries, it’s possible to find freedom even in prison? Certainly Jesus Christ promised that. He said to those sincerely seeking to know eternal truth,“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Even within prison walls, beyond any expectation of ever venturing outside them, this inmate was experiencing freedom.

Perhaps, through Christ, he had been freed of the burden of sin and its guilt, exchanging it for blessed, eternal forgiveness. He was free to discover the joys of Jesus’ promise, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). After a lifetime of making wrong, self-centered decisions that led to his conviction and imprisonment, the inmate had become free to give, to invest himself, in others. And he was freed to start building a lasting, positive legacy despite the confines that restricted his physical movement.

It's interesting that some who have never seen the inside of a prison can actually be less free than this fellow. They might be held captives by the shackles of sins they can’t seem to overcome. Maybe they find themselves enslaved to cancerous emotions of bitterness and unforgiveness. Perhaps they’re bound by the consequences of ill-advised decisions that have dashed cherished dreams.

But the Scriptures offer us the assurance that no matter who we are, no matter where we happen to go, freedom can be ours through Jesus Christ. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

Are you free? Or are you – or someone you know – being held captive, enslaved, by feelings or circumstances that keep you from becoming the person God has intended for you to be all along? Jesus said, “If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed” (John 8:36). Do you believe that? And are you willing to act accordingly?