a beautiful mess

“It is for freedom that the Christ has set us free.” – Galatians 5.1

“Somewhere along the way the movement of Jesus Christ became civilized as Christianity…” – Erwin McManus, The Barbarian Way

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add this to the running list of church taboos: freedom.

how dare we teach people that they are free! or so says many a church-folk today.

freedom, what an ironic word! it carries the weight of a thousand implications; the burden of change riding boldly on its back.

but somewhere along the way…yes, somewhere along her journey, the church, like the children of israel, shrunk back in fear rather than humbly moving forward in faith; fear has a way of paralyzing even the most confident of souls, while faith graciously propels us forward. so this shrinking back, this outward act of fear, produced another kind of fear: the fear to be truly free.

we are frequently offended that the christ actually did what he said he would do: set us free.

[selah]

for the blind man, his freedom to sight meant that he was now responsible for what he looked at. or didn’t look at.

for the lame man, his freedom to mobility meant that he was now responsible for where he went. or did not choose to go.

for the leper, her freedom to intimacy meant that she was now responsible for who she let get close. or did not.

[selah]

for me. for you. for us. our freedoms open so many doors: and that, to be honest, is kind of scary. sometimes, real scary. but this is not the totality of it all. because, if freedom only produces fear, it is a freedom not rooted in faith; the freedom that the christ gives, is an all encompassing freedom: it is for freedom that he has set us free: why would he free us from one thing only to be enslaved by another when his desire is that we be free from all things because we are placed in him – the one who brings freedom?

for me. for you. for us. our freedoms open so many doors: and that, to be honest, is kind of scary. because we fear that we will return to adamic ways: failure. we are afraid that we’ll mess everything up! (and sometimes we mess a lot up – only GOD is everything, and we are no where near powerful enough to mess him up.)

but again. when we see those chains of the world (guilt, shame, fear, etcetera) for where and what they truly are (broken and laying at our feet) and we see our god for who he truly is (loving, compassionate, and abounding in grace) we can move forward in freedom and faith. we can move into deeper intimacy with YHWH.

freedom in and through the christ is not something to be feared when we remember we’re all sons and daughters of the king of kings of kings. we’ve been forgiven millions. we are being loved and rescued and made righteous always and forever.

we’re not only on a journey – our GOD is the journey. he is the truth. he is the life. and it is for freedom that he has set us free.

your thoughts?

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despite my unbelief, i believe that who i am is a son of the only living god & king, YHWH [blessed be his name]. a son of the resurrection. a son of the wind which bends all things.

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