Freedom to worship God is not dependent upon the effort of human beings, no matter how well-meaning, sincere or dedicated they might be. Freedom to worship God in truth and in spirit is also not dependent upon the location or physical condition of human beings. One needs only to read Paul’s letter to the Philippians to be reminded that even bound physically in chains, under the watchful eye of the Praetorian Guard, Paul has not been rendered incapable of singing praises and offering prayers. Freedom to worship, the ability to render thanks and praise to God, is a gift from God. Human beings are incapable of creating and establishing the capacity for genuine worship.
There seems to be a great deal of confusion in our churches about the concept of “freedom” and a need for followers of Jesus Christ to acknowledge and boldly reassert the distinction between freedom that is particularly Christian and that which owes its definitions to more philosophical or political categories. Freedom, as Christians understand it, is the ability to respond appropriately to God’s grace, to render God thanks and praise by answering with joyful obedience to God’s direction of our lives. True freedom is neither the permission to make a selection from a wide variety of choices, nor is it the absence of any external impositions upon one’s life; it is the experience of having been so compelled by God’s grace, accompanied by the recognition of God’s claim over one’s entire life, that one no longer has a need for choice or deliberation — one can only assent gratefully and in humble obedience.
We Christians affirm that it is because God has moved toward us in Jesus Christ and done what is necessary to free us from the sin that binds us, that true freedom exists for us to be the people God has destined us to be. Freedom, understood in this manner, knows no national boundaries and is never dependent upon any action of a particular government to provide the necessary conditions for its presence. The fact that there are worshiping Christians in extremely oppressive states is testimony to this fact. True freedom is a gift from God; if God does not give it, we cannot know it.
The permission to assemble publicly for the purpose of holding a service of worship without fear of reprisal from either the state or citizens of a particular country is indeed to be welcomed by Christians when it is offered to them. We American Christians are right to be thankful for living in a nation that grants us this added bonus. But we Christians should refuse to substitute the true freedom we experience in Jesus Christ for those freedoms which are (and perhaps only temporarily) provided for and protected by the government of a particular country.
Let us commend soldiers who genuinely struggle to obey the commands of Jesus Christ, who believe themselves to be faithfully acting out of their God-given freedom when they take up arms to make life possible for others. Let us appreciate the fact that our government grants us permission to worship in public. But let us not confuse the actions of soldiers and governments with the work of the Holy Spirit. We American Christians are truly free to worship God only because God makes it so. May we in all areas of our lives rightly render our praise and thanks to the One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Posted Dec. 3, 2003
Jennifer George is associate pastor, Shepherd of the Sierra church, Loomis, Calif.
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