Land of the Free?

Americans this week are going big with their Fourth of July celebrations. Some of my US friends in the city have gathered for parties and its posted all over social media. America prides itself in being the land of the free, and the most powerful nation in the ‘free world’.

It’s an illusion of course. I can’t help seeing the irony, since they live in a 2-party state where it costs about a billion dollars to run for president, and the freedom to bear arms leaves the nation’s children living in fear of sudden death by shootings. But Independence Day isn’t the time to slag off America. Whatever their shortfalls as a nation, we surely have our own.

Instead, it made me think about what freedom really means. Why do you want to be free anyway? Humans are a highly social species. Nations in east-Asia, for example, value the social life together above the rights of individuals to self-expression.

So what does freedom mean? It means that we can experience freedom from something and freedom for something. The Christian Bible is my foundation for understanding freedom. It paints a picture of a God loves every person enough to free them from the weight of their sins, and set them on a path to wholeness. It says that God values social justice and the poor. The rich and powerful will be called to account for how they put their resources to good effect.

In the Bible St Paul hits hard on freedom.

“Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims.” (1 Corinthians 6:12 The Message)

Perhaps, like me, you recognise this is a temptation? It’s easy to get unhealthily obsessed by something, even if you see it as a good cause. Instead, St Paul offers a deeply radical alternative:

“You were called to freedom, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence. Live this free life by loving and helping others.” (Galatians 5:13)

What would life in South Yorkshire feel like if we used our powers, our freedoms, our energies to love and serve others? Isn’t that a little picture of perfection? 

That is the kind of freedom truly worth celebrating.