a glimpse towards Sunday 7.3.15

“It’s a Free Country…”

That’s a phrase I remember being “cool” as a kid. I remember my sister saying it when we’d be in an argument and I’d remind her of the rules of calling “shotgun” to ride in the front seat of the van. I remember saying it to friends at school when they’d ask if they could sit in the open seat at the lunch table, or play kickball with our group at recess. I remember it transforming to a colloquialism, one that undoubtedly lost much of the meaning of its actual words.

Moving into the fourth of July weekend, one can’t help reflecting on our nation’s freedoms, and rightly so. After all, that is what the holiday is about. But I’ve also found myself pondering the struggle of defining those freedoms. Some may argue that freedoms stop being freedoms once you place guidelines or rules over them, but most of us rationally understand, as did our forefathers, that unguided freedom doesn’t result in much freedom at all, but rather anarchy, lawlessness, and fear.

In His letter to the Galatians, Paul has reminded the church that freedom can be tricky, and can be dangerous. He reminds the new believers that their freedom should not be used for selfish pursuits, but rather to serve one another in love. As followers of Christ, we also have some guidance over our freedoms, and that guidance comes through “walking by the Spirit” as we were reminded by our friend, Bart Stone, last week.

I feel that many people may view the life of following Christ as a restriction of their freedoms – as list of rules (a few do’s, mostly don’ts), that may keep them from experiencing all that this life has to offer. But Paul reminds us, nothing could be further from the truth. By being guided by the Holy Spirit, the party is made immeasurably better! Our scripture for this week points out that by following our own desires, our freedom is cheapened; it’s distorted and ends up resulting in the “acts of the flesh.” But being led by the Spirit, our freedom produces fruit – fruit that the party desperately needs!

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Britt Johnson
Student Pastor
Weekly Giving | 6.28.2015

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