Happy Fourth of July! A day of cookouts, watermelon, and fireworks. Red, white, and blue; the Stars and Stripes forever. A day to celebrate our independence and freedom.
But what is freedom? What is independence? As much as I love our country and support our ideals, beliefs, and practices, I think we have mistaken independence for freedom.
Idealistically, independence means we are free to practice our own beliefs, voice our opinions, and be who we want to be without fear of retribution or punishment.
From a young age, we are trained to believe we are independent, that we shouldn’t need anyone to help us, to guide us, to direct our path. Dependence, or needing help from others, has a major negative connotation in our culture. The more ‘adult’ I become (ha!), the more I sense pressure to be fully independent, solvent, and generally not need help from anyone for anything. As physical therapists, we use the word dependent to describe a situation in which the patient can do less than 25% of a given task…the therapist is sweaty, experiencing muscular fatigue, and often wishing the patient would lose at least 50 pounds. Seriously, not so much fun.
Well, then, what is freedom? Freedom, to me, is totally being yourself, without fear, without doubt, without punishment for your personality, beliefs, or quirky likes and dislikes. A free person isn't burdened, isn't enslaved by anyone or anything.
Have we as Americans truly gained our independence? Sure, we are free from political tyranny and oppression. Sure, our democracy is better than all other political systems in the world. But many of us are slaves; slaves to debt, slaves to comparisons with our neighbors, slaves to our jobs, slaves to meaningless expectations. We aren’t free to be who we desire to be, the people we were designed to be. Many of us fear retribution from being ourselves, expressing our opinions, and social ramifications of freedom of expression.
What kind of liberation is that? And we celebrate it every year?
I am reading The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg (amazing book, by the way; I highly recommend it!). The whole book resonates with me, but especially the following passage in light of these meditations:
“…freedom is not the same as self-indulgence. I am not free to become a great pianist by watching TV and eating potato chips all day.” Ortberg also explains that freedom is the goal AND the path to growth; the path is as unique as the person following it.
I’m going to step out of the box and say that Americans have used their independence to achieve a high level of self-indulgence. We are a society obsessed with ease, pleasure, and immediate gratification. But we’re not free. We're chained to our desires, expectations, and burdens.
To me, freedom is found only in one thing – in Christ. BUT…I can only be free in Christ by being totally dependent on Him. Talk about a shift in perspective. In Him, I am not chained by meaningless expectations, burdened by sins, or stuck being someone I don’t want to be. I must learn to rely on Him, trust Him, depend on Him for everything. The more I grow in Christ, the more ‘me’ I become. Which is totally awesome. And freedom.
The challenge then, to me, is how do I use my freedom? Just hang out, be Erin, and have a really good time in the process? I don't think so! Christ says we have been freed in Him, by grace, to do good works and free others. I choose to accept this challenge. It’s a daily battle, a daily search, to choose to liberate and serve others rather than my own self-indulgent desires.
Will you accept the challenge? Depend on Christ. Be truly yourself. Serve someone else. Free the oppressed.
True freedom…that’s something truly worth celebrating.
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