Accept No Substitutes

There’s no doubt that Freedom is a worthy goal, one Christians also share. So here is how Christians understand Freedom:

Freedom is everyone having enough to eat. Freedom is everyone having a safe place to rest. Freedom is a community where no one is superior and no one inferior, no one is wealthy and no one is poort. Freedom is an end to oppression. Freedom is joyful relationships of mutual care between neighbors, strangers, and even former enemies. Freedom is a right relationship with all of God’s creatures.

Freedom often looks chaotic. Free people, with no lords or masters, are free to complain. Free to be cantankerous and express themselves with creative defiance. When the people of Israel were freed from slavery in Egypt one of the first things they did was start complaining about the monotony of manna from heaven. Communities seeking freedom are often judged to be uncouth. Respectable people frequently clutch their pearls in the presence of free folk.

Freedom is a free gift of God’s grace. Freedom is not bought with blood, not by soldiers heroically sacrificing themselves, and especially not by the murder of our enemies for national security. When Christ was resurrected from the grave Christians learned that true Freedom is Freedom even from the fear of death. Free people do not scapegoat or sacrifice anyone for the comfort of anyone else.

Most importantly, Freedom doesn’t tolerate captivity of anyone anywhere. A person who accepts the poverty or oppression of another to maintain their own peace is not free, but enslaved to a false idol. We may get a foretaste of the Freedom of the Beloved Community, but Christians also know that none of us are truly Free until everyone is Free. This is what Communion is about: we all get free together. Therefore, every injustice against another human being, no matter how seemingly distant from our own lives, is an impediment to our Freedom.

Freedom is indeed a glorious vision, more than worthy of being the aspiration of every nation. May you recognize real Freedom and accept no substitutes.