Broken Signposts: How Christianity Makes Sense of the WorldSample

Broken Signposts: Freedom

What does it mean to be free? A shallow line of thinking might put it simply this way: to be able to do what I want to do, when I want to do it. Some might answer that it is the ability for a person to be able choose to act—or perhaps not to act—without constraint. We all know that freedom is vital for human thriving. However, many of the signposts that are meant to point in the direction of true freedom are, in fact, quite broken. Jesus himself is the place where the freedom giving God has come to dwell in our midst, in order to lead us out from where we are trapped.

Part of the puzzle of being ‘free’ is that sometimes it leads instead to being enslaved. For example, some people might freely choose a particular job or career but end up stuck in a repetitive cycle of working excessively, and unable to free themselves despite the damage to their health or family life. Others use their freedom to indulge in drugs, or to pursue sexual pleasure at any cost, and discover they become locked into a harmful pattern of addiction. ‘Total freedom’ in one direction often comes at the cost of non freedom in another direction. Yet, if we want the true exodus, we need to first understand who the real Pharaoh is that enslaves humans.

The time of slavery in Egypt was a signpost towards the ultimate accuser and deceiver and the entrapment of sin that catches humans in its net. It is highly significant for understanding freedom as John describes it in his Gospel to recall the freedom story of Passover. At a time when the sacrificial lambs were being sacrificed at the Temple, Jesus goes to Jerusalem and is ultimately crucified. For John, what Jesus did in going to the cross was a Passover-shaped message and an announcement of victory over the evil one and ultimate freedom from the captivity which diminishes human beings. 

Being set free to worship God and reflect genuine humanness into the world is central to the story of what God desires for his creatures. Jesus’ freedom agenda brings about the long-awaited liberation: a new Exodus whereby the Son makes everyone who is part of God’s new family truly free (John 8:36). Jesus offers people the opportunity to be a community of freed slaves with God in the midst of his new creation.

Jesus signposts genuine human freedom and invites his followers to inhabit his kingdom on earth as in heaven as agents of freedom. Therefore, we are in the ‘freedom business’ at every level and in every context, responding to the call of the Father who sets forth a life of liberty in his Son: 

· Freed for creativity

· Freed for stewardship of God’s creation

· Freed for love of one another

When Jesus talks about being truly free, it is not simply about freedom from individual wrong actions or moral glitches, but from the powerful forces that enslave the human heart to sin and idolatry. Through Jesus’ death—the ultimate victory over the dark powers—human captives can be set free at last.

Questions to consider: 

What does it mean to be ‘truly free’ according to John 8:36? How does the Passover story of freedom inform the Christian meaning of what it means to be ‘set free’? 

Living it out: 

How might you live as a ‘freedom-bringer’ today? Consider being freed for opportunities of creativity, stewardship, and love.