The United States was founded in the name of freedom, but do we really understand freedom? Freedom is typically understood as being exempt from external control or restraint. If only it were that simple!
In his sermon on January 31st, Pastor Brook Thelander said, “freedom comes through the community of faith.” Rousseau and the other Romantics believed that community impeded freedom through putting restraints on individuals. So which is it? Americans today chafe at any attempt to limit their absolute freedom. It would seem the Romantics won.
Can greater freedom come through community? If our purpose in life is bigger than ourselves, then community is essential to living out our purpose. Community enables us to live as we were designed. So the fuller answer is that freedom isn’t the highest end, but serves a greater purpose. Do parents limit the freedom of their children? In some ways, yes, but that is in order to achieve the greater freedom and purpose of knowing how to care for oneself and be an independent adult.
If we make absolute freedom our idol, then we are constantly consumed with demanding our rights. I believe pride lies just beneath the surface in such a life. Jesus did the opposite. He willingly gave up his rights in order to fulfill his purpose. Freedom is important, and can even be worth dying for, but freedom within the context of community is a higher, more meaningful freedom.
