A Tale of Two Freedoms (Part 4)
As followers of Jesus, we get to do so much more than just be “free”.
As we saw in the last post, God’s idea of freedom is radically different from that of our nation. Christians never get to be free in the American sense; we instead exchange sin’s mastery over us for a life of servant-hearted worship of Jesus.
But what do we do once we are truly—biblically—free? How do we live as “slaves to righteousness”?
In 1 Corinthians, Paul paints a compelling vision of how we might embrace such a life. Though Paul explicitly recognizes his freedom, he declares that he has made himself “a slave to everyone.” Why? “To win as many as possible.” Paul describes how he has become like whoever the Lord leads him to reach so that his ministry might be most effective. Paul became “all things to all people so that by all possible means” he might save some. In short: Paul abandoned his worldly freedom, becoming who God needed him to be to advance the gospel.
We should acknowledge this denial was no small thing for Paul. As he makes clear, Paul had abundant reasons to take pride in his worldly heritage and accomplishments. He was among the religious elite of Israel, a people who prided themselves on living separate and distinct from all those who did not share their commitment to the Old Testament law. Holiness, as Paul was raised to believe, came through rejecting all other ways of life and holding zealously to his community's understanding of a right way of living.
What could lead such a committed follower of the law to abandon all that defined his understanding of what it meant to serve God? A radical encounter with Jesus, and a true understanding of the Lord’s heart.
In another of his letters Paul beautifully, simply declares what motivates him to so radically change his life: the fact that God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” After accepting what Jesus had done for him, Paul chooses to abandon his own way of living—his individual liberty—to submit himself to God’s will. It is no coincidence that the purpose of Paul’s choice to serve others so closely echoes the heart of God. Paul understands that he is now a slave to righteousness, and must therefore obey the will of his new master. If Jesus wants people to be saved, then Paul will do and become whatever is necessary to make that happen.
Even while working as a servant, Paul shows us that faithful followers of Jesus do not work without reward. Returning to 1 Corinthians, Paul emphasizes that he becomes all things to all people “for the sake of the gospel,” hopeful that he “may share in its blessings.” Paul trusts that his new master does not just expect him to serve; Jesus is also gracious enough to bless those who devote themselves to him.
These blessings are likely much grander than what comes to mind for most American Christians. When we think of the blessings of following Jesus, our minds likely jump to the promise of spending eternity with our Lord. While beautiful, this personal perspective misses the more immediate reward Paul experienced: the joy of seeing others come to faith in Jesus. The reason this blessing is so unfamiliar to many American Christians will have to be the subject of a later post. For now, I will have to satisfy myself by merely emphasizing that even the greatest eternity we can imagine does not fully encompass the joy that comes from choosing to embrace godly liberty: the freedom to be whoever Jesus needs us to be for the sake of saving others.
Comparing all this to the American definition of freedom, I can’t imagine myself ever being satisfied with what my nation offers. I cannot assume, however, that my perspective and yours are the same. That, then, will be the question for the next (and final) post in this series: which of these two mutually exclusive meanings of freedom are we going to choose: that of our nation, or that of our Lord?