For This We Have Been Set Free
Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer
Last month, the United States celebrated the nation’s birthday on the 4th of July. Fireworks, cookouts, and band concerts are some favorite ways to enjoy the anniversary of our nation’s beginning. While it is the busiest travel time of the summer, it is also a time to relax and reflect on important issues. In this and the following Reflection I want to share some thoughts this year’s celebration brought to mind now that I’ve had time to deliberate over them.
In this essay I want to think about the difference between freedom and liberty. Although we often use these terms interchangeably, there are differences that are important between the two. Quoting from PEDIAA.com, “The main difference between liberty and freedom is that liberty is the state of being free from oppressive restrictions or control imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behaviour, or political views, while freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants.”
In general, I would suggest that liberty is more applicable to the community and freedom to the individual, but that is a very broad distinction based on thinking about government as different but not separate from the individuals who make up that society. Next week we’ll look at liberty and government, but for now let’s think a little about the freedom of the individual.
Peter O’Mahony in his novel The Southern Lawyer, has two characters, a venal politician and the justice driven lawyer of the title, discussing the moral gray area where, according to the politician, good and bad are interchangeable depending on the situation in relation to the person acting. The discussion explores the line between freedom and corruption and concludes with the following exchange:
Politician: “[Freedom] is the ability to do what you want when you want to do it.”
Lawyer replies: “Freedom occurs within the bounds of moral capacity not the bounds of corrupt dealings.”
Obviously, these two did not have a meeting of minds! The Bible comes down on the lawyer’s side of the argument. There are three great themes concerning freedom in Scripture: Freedom from sin and its consequences through Jesus Christ (Luke 4:18; John 8:31-36; Rom. 6:11-23; Col. 1:21-23), how we use our freedom to serve God and others (1 Cor. 6:12; Gal. 5:13-14; 1 Peter 2:16), and freedom to be all we were created to be in purpose and joy (Ps. 118:5; Rom. 8:21; 2 Cor. 3:17; Eph. 3:16).
As Cross Disciples, we are to live in freedom as defined by God, not vested self-interest. Then we will be “free, free indeed.”
(Photo credit: R. A. Stites, Pea Ridge National Military Park lookout at the top of the mountain)
