freedom

I am taking a couple of weeks to talk about freedom with my students. Today seemed like a good day to kick that sort of conversation off. It’s kind of a hot topic this week, ya know.

Galatians 5:1 says that, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”

It sounds redundant…

Freedom is a way of life. We are free to live in that freedom. Does that make sense? I used this example to help explain it to my students:

A few years ago I had a volunteer in my youth ministry who was amazing. He was seriously a great guy. He was funny, intelligent, relational, and always available for our youth ministry gatherings, activities, etc. On the surface he seemed like the ideal volunteer. He had placed his faith in Christ- he was “born again” to use the words of Jesus. He had been set free, but… he wasn’t experiencing freedom. He was still in a noose of sexual sin. One night he arranged a meeting with an underage girl after talking to her online, but when he arrived at their meeting place he was met by police officers. He’s currently in prison.

Born again…heaven bound… made new… forgiven…

But in the stranglehold of sin.

My friend had been managing his bondage (Dallas Willard covers this in “The Divine Conspiracy”. Chapter 2 alone is worth the cost of the book).

Being in a stranglehold is a horrible way to live, if you can even call it living.

Jesus sets us free, and then invites us into freedom.

So I am begging my students to take off the masks, and to leave them off. To be honest about who we are. And to love each other right where we’re at. And to tap into the freedom that only God can provide.

I hope that my friend in prison is finally experiencing that freedom, which has nothing to do with the walls that surround him. And I hope that you are too. Because if the Son has set you free, you are free.