DeoOmnisGloria.com

Slavery and Freedom

Recently an atheist dropped in on our site and made the argument that he was “tired of being a slave” to God, so he became an atheist. For now, I’ll leave alone the obvious issue that he seems to still believe there is a God, but has decided to revolt. But I thought it was an interesting error for him to suggest that we are slaves.

At the heart of this discussion is the meaning of “freedom.” As Americans, particularly modern Americans, we tend to define freedom as the ability to do whatever one wishes at any particular time. This definition ultimately leads to the understanding that you are never free – whether limited by money, space, time, or laws, you will never have the ability to simply do whatever you wish. Freedom then, becomes a fallacy – or as Janis Joplin put it, “another word for nothing left to lose.” It would be impossible to ever be truly and permanently free.

I would argue, as have many Christians over the centuries, that our definition is flawed. True freedom is freedom from sin. Sounds odd, huh? Let me explain. Sin is essentially a cancerous disease of the soul. When we fall into sin, it is difficult to get out. A great example is seen in an alcoholic: when a person begins drinking heavily, his body begins ‘needing’ the alcohol and it becomes difficult to stop. Over time, the alcoholic is more defined by the alcohol than by any other trait. He becomes a slave to the drink. In a very similar way, we become accustomed and even addicted to our sins in such a way that we cannot do without them. It becomes extremely difficult to choose good, since bad has become such an integrated part of our existence. To put it another way, Freedom is the ability to choose good. This is key, because when we become embroiled in a particular sin, be it lust, gluttony, envy, etc, it is very difficult to choose not to commit that sin in the future, since we have become accustomed to it.

So slavery then is best defined as one enslaved to a particular sin, rather than one following God. Slavery by definition indicates a lack of choice – as a slave you cannot choose to stop being a slave. God never forces us to obey – we always have free will. God is a father, not a slavemaster. The analogy can be carried further when we realize that we do become slaves to sin. We cannot choose to stop being a slave to sin on our own. It is only by the grace of God that we can overcome our temptations and turn away from sin, which means that God through grace gives us the ability to become free.

These definitions are at the heart of the moral argument raging through American culture these days. It is easy to think that we cannot or should not have laws that limit the “freedom” of another person. However, this argument is based on a false understanding of freedom and what it means to be free. Those who are free from choosing sin through the grace of God must seek laws that prevent our weaker neighbors from choosing serious sin as well. As a society, we cannot embrace and accept sin without hurting our entire country and culture.

Choose freedom today and refuse to give into temptation.

God bless,
Jay