Friday, September 26, 2008

Freedom

Freedom!

If you have been in church, for any period of time, you have heard this word frequently uttered. Maybe it was your pastor that gave a compelling message about your freedom in Christ, or maybe you heard it through a prayer elder proclaiming this over you. Perhaps you were reading your Bible and came across this word and images of the troops fighting in Iraq came to your mind. Troops that fight and die for the freedom we so enjoy.

Maybe you are sitting there and laughing to yourself because you realize, as do I, that this overused word is very rarely defined. Or you quite possibly have asked yourself the same question i have asked myself. If i am suppose to be free in Jesus then why do I not feel that freedom at times?

I have a theory why we do not always embrace or feel the freedom that everyone talks about. first let me take a minute to try to define freedom on a very basic level. Freedom is simply not the absent of chains. I believe freedom, as we have it, is the ability to outgrow our chains and bondage through our maturity in Christ.

It is like a bull who has a yoke on him. He grows into his yoke, but eventually he will grow so big that his yoke can no longer hold him. That is the picture i get when one talks about freedom in Christ. As our life matured, apart from Christ, we grew into a yoke, but when we became Christians and started maturing in Christ we outgrow our yokes. As we grow and mature so to does our anointing because it is the anointing of God that breaks every yoke of bondage in our lives.

I mentioned earlier that I had a theory why we do not embrace or feel the freedom everyone talks about. Now i know that this will not be a very popular thought, but i ask you to consider what I say and do a self inventory to discover if this is the truth.

I believe that the church, instead of empowering people to embrace freedom, has taught the people to deceive themselves and others by embracing a "christian lifestyle" that shrouds the truth instead of revealing it.

I am under the impression (since i have not been a Christian all my life) that what we claim to have (freedom) we don't have in the fullness that we are promised. We hide it behind Christian talk (which no one really understands), Christian behavior (isolationism - stay with your own kind), and Christian Living (the appearance that we must be perfect), which in turns causes us to deceive ourselves into thinking we are freer than we really are.

In reality we hide our troubles and hurts behind the mask of Christianity. Locking us in deeper bondage because we are unwilling to share the truth; that we hurt, we have problems, we sin like everyone else in the world, and that our hearts are ugly and constantly need God's mercy to daily transform us into His likeness.

Here lies the problem. We have the truth, we are a people who have Jesus Christ in our midst, or at least that is what we claim. We are taught how to live like a christian, speak like a christian, and behave like a christian. In essence we are taught how to place the mask of Christianity on so that no one will ever see the truth, that most of us really have no idea what we are doing but hope that we can give the appearance like we do.
So how does one abandon their masks? How does one start to live in the fullness of who Christ intended us to be? Let me will give you four factor (not the only four) that i believe can help us live a life that is true to ourselves and true to Jesus.

4 factors in which will help us realize our freedom in Christ:

1. Honest Evaluation - I think that many non-Christians are more honest than the ones who claim to have Christ. Why? Because who do not know Christ know that are not right, and do not live in denial of it. On the other hand the people of God know that they are not right (in the areas God has not cleaned up yet) but hide it behind their masks. We need to take time in silence and mediate on our actions, words, thoughts, attitudes, and perspectives. The true indication of what is in us come from the honest look at what comes out of us.
2. Intimacy - I personally believe that a Christians greatest need and greatest power comes from being in the presence of God. Like the Apostle Paul I believe that apart from God we are nothing. Intimacy is that time when God and I can share our hearts with each other. It is the time when I take what I evaluated to be in my heart before the Lord and ask Him what he thinks about this. Then i ask the Lord about things He wishes to remove from me that i never noticed about myself. Then at the end of our private time together He empowers me to overcome my bondage. I believe that a lot of people stay in an unhealed state because they refuse to be honest before God. If we are honest before God then the miraculous can happen as he showers His truth on our broken hearts.
3. Acceptance - Here is where we tend to have the most trouble. At this point we should have Honestly evaluated ourselves and have been in the presence of God and received instructions. There comes a point in our lives where we must now accept all that we know and all that God has said or reject it. I heard it once said that most visions fail in the implementation stage. I think that is true about life changing events. If we have evaluated ourselves and heard the instructions from the Lord (as confirmed through His word) now we must accept it as truth and implement it in our lives. Our lives never transform based on information but through implementation of the revelation that God has graciously given us.
4. Community - John Donne once said, "No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main..." I think that this is an excellent quote when talking about the people of God. We were created to be in community not apart from it. In our walk of freedom we must realize that God never intended you to walk this process by yourself. We are in need of constant encouragement and constant lifting up. At this point we should surround ourselves with people that we wish to emulate. Do not just put people just like you or I, but put those around us who have been there and can help up raise up to new levels in our walk, our inner healing, and our freedom. There is help for you in this difficult process.

I believe that the the true measure of a life comes from the level of truth in which we live it. We are a people quickly approaching eternity. Everyday that goes by is one day closer to Jesus. The word is clear in one area that we often overlook; We can live an abundant and full life here and now.

I believe that if you will just be honest with yourself, allow God to speak, accept the truth, and find community, that you will be walking in greater levels of freedom. Wouldn't you like to look in the mirror one morning and love the person you see, and not always be ashamed of them?

My prayer is this, that the Lord who is rich in mercy and grace may touch your spirit and bring greater levels of freedom to your life. That the presence of the Lord will be with you in a way that will awaken your heart to the reality of Him and His ways. I thank God for all of You, and we bless you in Jesus' name. Amen.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

good point. thanks for the reminder.
i just experienced a higher level of freedom this week, and experience all the steps that you gave. i agree with you, i agree with the four pionts/steps that you have. It's ok to share your thoughts and emotions and be true to yourself. admit that your not ok, that your hurt, that everything is not ok before the Lord and wait. Wait for His instruction. then be encourage with it and share it with a co-believer either he/she's a leader or not. you'll grow more with it, you will mature and you will experience more of His love, mercy and grace.
this is freedom...

Rick Womack said...

great post jim - you've heard me emphasize the need for relationship - it's key to the Kingdom and our walk with our Creator. thanks for sharing your heart and what God's showing you...continue to be a mouthpiece for the Lord.