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| My friends in other parts of the country
get a kick out of the slogan on our New Hampshire license plates: LIVE FREE
OR DIE. It projects a stubbornness of attitude and a tenacity of spirit that is both
alarming and appealing in its bluntness. I
understand that historically it is related to the
imposition of government taxes, but it has come to represent far more. It is close to the heart
of what it means to be an American because it is a blunt expression of one of the
supreme values of our nation: freedom. It is an
echo of Patrick Henry's famous proclamation,
"Give me liberty or give me death."
Freedom, in one form or another, has become our obsession and it is catered to and encouraged at every level. We long for freedom from restrictions of any kind: freedom from external pressures, from obligations, from authority, from any limits at all. Therapists work to free us from our inhibitions and our past. We avoid commitments to anything because they impinge on our freedom. Freedom has become a national excuse for self-centeredness and self-indulgence that has led to a culture of entitlement. As a result, we are becoming a decadent and spoiled people. We have perverted our founding fathers' concept of freedom. Freedom is now identified with an absence of restrictions that borders on anarchy. But freedom always has limits. We do a fish no favor by setting it free from the constraints of water. Freedom requires an appropriate environment and that very environment has limits. Jesus claimed that the environment for freedom is truth. "And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:32). He spoke those words to people who believed in Him and would prove to be His disciples by abiding in His word (that is, living according to it). So freedom is found by living according to the words of Jesus. Notice that this freedom does not come by aligning oneself with a particular church or denomination. It does not come by merely affirming the veracity of Jesus' words. Freedom only comes as we live in conformity to His words. This freedom is not the license to do anything we please, but the ability to do what is right and honorable and true to live as God, our Creator, intended us to live.
"For you were called to freedom, brethren, only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for your selfish desires, but through love serve one another." Galatians 5:13 |
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by Rev. J. Patrick Curtis, Senior Pastor |
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