What is real freedom?
What do you think of when you think of freedom? Maybe, like most people, you probably think of things such as freedom from slavery, freedom from oppression, freedom from social injustice, and on and on that list seems to go. There's nothing wrong with setting captive individuals free, but lately I've been seeing the cry for freedom in American society take on other tones. In fact, it seems a lot of the talk of freedom has to do with breaking away from anyone or anything someone may consider personally binding in any way. It's as if there are people out there who want to be free from anyone telling them what to do in any way, shape, form, or fashion.
The problem with that desire is that the real world does not, and will not ever work that way.
Though it would seem obvious to say it, there appear to be those that do not understand that true freedom is not without its limits. The result of a society of people completely free to do whatever they pleased would be chaos, death, and destruction. The result of a person who takes such complete freedom to do whatever they want to do is always pain. Here we find a truth: in the pursuit of freedom from physical bondage, there is another, more alluring and evil enslavement waiting far on the other side.
Where freedom is completely taken away, you have one side of slavery and bondage. This is the lack of freedom we are more used to because it is felt, it is visible, and the suffering and pain it causes is immediate and obvious on its face. However, there is another, more sinister type of slavery that grips the person who would claim complete and total freedom.
I came across a blog article HERE that more deeply explores these two issues using the movie The Hunger Games as an example of the two views of slavery. It is worth taking the time to read and really understand. In the end the conclusion is the same. A person or a people completely free from everything are eventually enslaved to unconstrained desire; condemned to the foolishness and folly of empty lives of empty pursuits that never satisfy or fulfill, to put it another way. Whether chained to a wall, or chained to an empty life, both are lives of enslavement.
Do we not see this in the lives of Hollywood celebrities who seemingly have everything you or I could ever want? I can think of several celebrities in the news recently who have garnered vast amounts of wealth at very young ages, able to buy the freedom we all seem to think we want, only to discover for themselves an empty and hollow world of isolation and loneliness that could never be forged from metal bars and chains. So they turn to escape even this world in drugs and alcohol, and other pursuits, only to come crashing back to the reality of this existence, and their place in it. Having the world of freedom they so thought they desired, they learn only too late that they are now held tightly captive by form of bondage unseen.
As created beings, we are all fallen from God's grace, broken and in need of God's healing. The problem is that we resist that healing because to us, it looks too much like the opposite of freedom. It looks like more rules and restrictions than real freedom. Consider then the husband who, in pursuit of full freedom goes out and cheats on his marriage, or the willful child who resists all attempts to compel good behavior. The end of these paths are only pain.
Mark McMinn writes, "The consequences of unbounded independence are woundedness, brokenness, and pain."
The quest for the freedom that brings true happiness in life then is not the quest for complete freedom, but rather a quest to be the person God created you to be, in His will, under His rule, and under His authority. Real freedom is not marked by a complete lack of rules or laws, but rather by a submission to authority, a restraint in both word and deed, and a world that is ordered by purpose.
A Real Church
What do you think of when you hear someone talk about church? I'm sure there are those reading this that will say a local church is a local body of believers and part of the larger church which is the bride of Christ. This is true, but is it really what you think of when someone else is talking about church? I mean, really?!?!
I always hear people talking about going to church, as in the building. There are activities at church, services at church, weddings at church, and worship at church. For all those people talking about church, there seems to be a whole lot more talk about a building than a living organism.
When I was growing up, I was pretty much taught the same way. "Church is people, not a building," was heard from the pulpit, and then a new building fund would be launched to build, well, a church (building). So, like many people I went to church (building) with, I called all my fellow-believers my brothers and sisters in Christ and claimed them all as part of a larger family. Only problem was that I usually only saw this family on Sunday, they always dressed in their nicest clothes, and we went through this kind of ritualistic greeting time before the service, a shaking hands ritual called "time of fellowship" at some point during the service, and after the service my church family would usually politely say goodbye as they headed for the nearest exit.
Outside of this building called church, it seemed what was supposed to be my church family blended away seamlessly into the world, and became so diluted you never heard or saw from them again until the next service. Oh, each service they were plenty happy to see you, smile, shake your hand, engage you during the official time of fellowship, and then politely say goodbye. Each service, three times a week, this could be repeated in case you did not get a good enough dose of church at any of the other services. There are also lots of unspoken rules I'm not even about to get into. Suffice it to say, a lot of people are putting a lot of stake into those rules. If you think differently, by the way, you'd better not mention it because otherwise you're just causing trouble trying to change things.
While I know some reading this will say "Not at MY church!" the truth is, I believe this church experience is exactly like this for most people who walk in from the world outside church doors. All of last year my family visited around to many churches in my area. The pattern seemed to repeat itself everywhere. People gathering in a building smiling and greeting each other, singing songs, time of fellowship, service, polite goodbyes, and then (poof) everyone left. For each successive service, simply rewind and repeat. For all the differences churches like to promote about themselves, they are quite surprisingly very much the same as all the churches they say they are different from. Anyone who could stick around long enough to figure out this pattern could become an excellent church member in good standing in no time at all!
There was one exception, and it redefined what church meant to me.
When we first started going to this church, we were asked to simply give them a chance to get to know us, for us to get to know them, and to make an effort to attend for six Sundays to help accomplish this. We agreed.
In those six weeks, we did get to know some people there, and some of them came to know us. While we were not ready to commit to anything right away, something felt distinctly different. I felt like these people really cared. Fast forward to the beginning of this year, and as my wife and I talked about all the different churches we had visited, that one church kept coming into my mind. I wanted to go back to see how they were doing, like checking up on an old friend I had not seen for some time. We did. Then we went back again a couple of weeks later. After a few more weeks, I felt I simply could not go anywhere else and feel like I was going to a building where people met. I had found a real church, and this Sunday, my family became members of a body of believers known as Redeemer Church in Oxford, AL.
This was no small decision on my part. I had determined to either find a real church, or not go to any church and simply start one myself. I had become so frustrated with what church had become, I could not tolerate it any longer when I knew what it could be. What it is supposed to be. What God created it to be.
I am glad my family has a church home now. We will meet in a building, but it is very obvious to anyone who visits here that Redeemer Church is not a building, nor will it ever be. The focus of Redeemer Church is, and I believe it will always be, on the glory of God and the joy of all people - not just the ones who walk through its doors, but those far beyond the walls of whatever building they will meet in.
They do not say they care about people. They simply care about people, and their actions speak louder than words.
So, really think about that question I started with. What do you think of when people around you start talking about church? If you get a picture of a building in your mind, maybe you need to start looking for a real church.
Moms vs Dads
I was reminded earlier of the different roles moms and dads have in a child's life as I thought about a former comedian who noted this particular difference: "A father will take his son out to a baseball field, teach him to hold a bat, teach him to catch with a glove, teach him how to hit a baseball, and practice for hours and hours, for weeks and years on end. The kid eventually grows up, gets a sports scholarship through college, and eventually makes it into the Big Leagues. On the day he makes his professional baseball debut, in his first ever interview and before the reporter asks the first question, this young boy whom the father groomed his entire life will look into the camera lens, smile, wave and say "Hi, mom!'"
If you're a mom out there, you're probably nodding your head thinking, "As it should be."
So, along those lines, here are some other thoughts on the differences between moms and dads.
First Aid Response: Moms vs. Dads
Mom - Rushes to the scene with a worried look on her face, tenderly looking over the child and searching for any obvious signs of injury.
Dad - Looks on from a seated position and commands the child to "come here" with a waving motion of his hand.
Mom - Upon further inspection and seeing nothing is wrong will repeatedly ask, "Are you sure you're all right?"
Dad - If the child has managed to walk to his dad, the dad simply assumes the kid must be OK because he just walked from where he was lying on the ground writhing in agony a minute ago to where dad has been patiently sitting and waiting.
Mom - After seeing where the child might have been injured, as indicated by the child pointing to an injury invisible to the naked eye, the mother will lean over and give it a "kiss to make it better."
Dad - Even if obvious injury is visible to the naked eye (such as a protruding bone) will scrunch his eyebrows, frown, and probably give one or both pieces of the following advice: "Walk it off" or "Shake it off".
If the parent was watching at the moment of injury:
Mom - will react with complete and utter horror, holding hand over mouth, and maybe actually screaming
Dad - if he has anticipated the event, will be reaching furiously for the video camera or his mobile phone trying to record the event
If the kid is essentially OK with only some minor scrapes:
Mom - "If you ever do that again I'm going to kill you!"
Dad - "That was awesome! Try it again, but this time wait until I give you the thumbs up that the video is on."
If the kid has a bruise:
Mom - will want to get some ice on it as quickly as possible
Dad - will congratulate the child with a slap on the back and a proud smile "Nice shiner you got there!"
If there is blood:
Mom - clean the wound and apply antibiotic ointment, spray, or both and wrap the wound
Dad - "Don't worry about that. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Now get back out there."
Anyway, those are the ones I've observed at one time or another. What are some of the funny and different ways you have noticed moms and dads reacting to various situations?
The Thought Experiment
You can have some pretty interesting conversations with kids as they can come up with some pretty interesting questions out of the blue. Just such a conversation happened earlier this week with my oldest daughter.
During our little talk, I asked her to imagine what would happen if an unbreakable chain was suddenly formed between the earth (presumably nearest the equator) and the moon. Her little mind raced with different thoughts, none of them good for the planet earth, and we finally concluded that anyone who lived long enough to survive the catastrophic events in the immediate term would certainly be doomed within 10 hours as the coil of chain reeled in the moon until it collided with the planet.
"That could never really happen though," she informed me. I smiled. "That's what you call a thought experiment. It makes things interesting and can lead you to think in different ways about the things around you."
She asked for another one, and so I asked her to imagine what it would be like to have a million dollars, but you couldn't spend any of it.
She talked about all the things she could buy with a million dollars, but I had to keep reminding her that she couldn't spend any of the money. If she had a million dollars, but couldn't spend even one penny of it, how would her life be different than it was right now? She puzzled it over, but she never could let go of the thought of actually having money you could not spend. I reminded her again, that this too was only a thought experiment, and that the value of something that was never to be used was equal to the value of nothing at all.
I also told her that people who wish for a million dollars are not really wishing for a million dollars just to have a million dollars sitting around. There is something they want to do with that million dollars; something they want to change about their life. What they want to change is the real reason they want a million dollars, and they think having that money to spend will allow them to change something that they see as a problem in their life.
We talked some more, but my own mind began to wander. As I listened to my daughter, I thought about all the things in the past that brought her into my life. How many different scenarios could have played out, different choices with different outcomes, and that I would trade none of them with the moment I was sharing right then. I look back on my own life, and I can see that by any standard I had it rough growing up. Without getting into details, I can say there are very few people who would wish to trade places with me if they knew everything about how I grew up.
In my own little thought experiment, I sometimes wonder what if . . .
What if this had been different, what if that choice had been made instead, what if I went here instead of there, and on and on the "what ifs" go. The reality is that I am here now because of all that has been. As the conversation winds down, it occurs to me that it is not the "what ifs" in life that really matter. Those "what if" moments in your past are like a million dollars you can never spend.
You cannot count on "what if" to change your life as it is right now, nor can you blame "what if" to change your past. I look back and see that many people in similar circumstances in life never seemed to be able to break out beyond the thought experiment of "what if", as they continue to blame the past for everything that happens in their life today and in the future.
What matters now are not the "what ifs" of the past, but the concrete decisions you make to ensure real change moving forward from here.
THROUGH the Storm
Flashback to April 27th, 2011. What do you personally remember from that day? Unless you were in Alabama or a neighboring southern state, probably not much. However, for those of us around that day, each of us has a story to tell.
That morning, I remember being awakened by the strong sound of wind outside. I got up with a tense sense of unease, walked to the window, and could see the trees in my back yard leaning hard over and steadily to one side as the sound of the wind whistled through their branches. Even the house seemed to be making low, groaning noises I'd never heard before. This wasn't a tornado. It was straight-line winds that I later would learn had knocked down dozens of large trees all over the area, blown some structures apart, severed power lines, and ominously enough, was only a precursor of what was still to come.
Later that same day, twisters would cross the state of Alabama with one in particular driving a line of destruction right across the map. My family had left our home earlier that day to go be with family who had a more secure location. As the tornado approached, I remember standing just outside the shelter. The hard rain had stopped, but I've never seen anything like the lightning that flashed across the sky that night. It was eerie. It was not a brief flash here and there, but rather the entire sky seemed to stay lit with continuous overlapping flashes of lightening. What was even more strange than this was the fact that it seemed as though someone had hit the mute button on the thunder. Normally, a bright flash of lightning is followed by the boom of thunder, but this was different. Sometimes far off in the distance we could hear thunder, but for all the lightning in the sky directly above us, it was abnormally quiet.
Turns out, one of the major tornadoes that crossed Alabama passed by my house northward by about 8 to 10 miles, and northward of the shelter location by about 10 - 15 miles. We all knew someone who had been touched by the devastation that day. I personally helped a friend salvage what little could be saved from his home that had been torn down, and scattered across a street and several acres of land.
While it is true that not all storms are this bad, you do learn that storms happen. They are unavoidable. I tend to think the damage from the straight-line winds that had caused so much damage earlier that morning had everyone taking the tornado warnings for that evening a lot more seriously than they normally would have, and the experience from that morning followed by the warnings that worse was still to come probably saved a lot of lives.
Sometimes in life you get warnings of things to come; precursors that indicate trouble is coming and you had better prepare yourself. Too often though, the storms of life seem to come out of nowhere and hit us without warning. What I have also found to be true is that people can have completely different reactions to the same storms.
I had a conversation with a friend of mine who battled cancer and is now doing quite well. He still has to go for checkups, but has been cancer-free for quite some time. I remember asking him about how he felt the day he found out about it, and his answer caught me off-guard. He said he just knew everything was going to be OK, and that he never really believed he wasn't going to make it. He went on to say through the whole ordeal he had peace about it, and when asked if he ever thought he actually might die, he said no.
Looking back, seeing him now as someone who battled cancer and is who has been cancer-free for some time, it might be easy to take such statements for granted, but you have to remember that he had lived in the storm of that moment. He was talking about a perspective he had when most people I know would have been devastated. What I also believe to be true, is that his peace passed my own understanding, and I also believe that it had to be from God.
The takeaway for me is that while we all will face storms in life, we have a choice in how we respond to them. Peace can be had just as my friend had peace knowing he would win out over the battle against cancer, but in the same instance I have heard other stories of people having peace with the fact that they knew they would not survive. While this article has focused on cancer as a storm of life, I hope the broader application is absorbed.
You may never specifically face cancer in your life, but there is a storm coming. Maybe you will have some warning, but for most us, there will be no warning at all. When your storm comes, I hope you will recall two things from this article: first, storms are temporary things, and second, that as Christians we have an Anchor on which to hold that will never fail. He will see us through every storm.
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