There’s a sort of language in charismatic culture that love the word ‘freedom.’
That’s great, right? Who wouldn’t like our freedom? Who would want to give up our freedom (cue William Wallace memes)? Who would want to live in… unfreedom (the opposite of freedom is ‘bondage’ but people really get the wrong idea these days)?
Of course, freedom in Christ is a good thing! My concern is about how the language is used in a way that is vague and unclear and tends to lose its meaning. ‘Freedom’ becomes a generic noun that is a thing to be prized. You see this to some extent in our songs but in some circles I’ve moved in, you hear it particularly in our preaching and our prayers.
We’re told to prize ‘more freedom.’ Again, who wouldn’t. But… from what? And can we be ‘more’ free, or is it a binary thing?
These are both important questions. My concern isn’t primarily with what people are saying, though sometimes it’s a bit kooky, but with the lack of clarity. No one knows what we mean when we use weird Christianese. Frankly, I don’t know what you mean, I have to guess.
Biblical language is good, theological shortcuts (like the word ‘Trinity’) are good, linguistic shortcuts that don’t clarify aren’t.
In the gospel Jesus has set us free from sin (Romans 6), from the powers of darkness (Colossians 1), and from death (Romans 8). That’s what our freedom is earned from. It’s to be enjoyed. We need to be reminded that we are free, especially when we splash about in the shallows of our temptation, as we often continue to behave as though the chains are still locked around our ankles. In Christ we’ve been set free, so we can walk away.
It’s not always that straightforward practically as the gospel slowly penetrates the darkness of our hearts and we turn towards Christ, but in actual fact we are saved, and Jesus has declared us holy (1 Corinthians 6).
This is the context where ‘more freedom’ makes some sense to me: I need to repent of my sins as the Lord brings them to light before my eyes. Why do I need to repent? Because Jesus is better than them and I want him. The Christian life can look like a plunge down into my soul to kill the demons (not literal, mostly) that I find there. That can sound really maudlin. Some Christians behave like it is. I prefer to see it as a quest for a bonny-eyed warrior: find where you’re an idiot and kill it dead with the gospel. Then keep going. I’m a snot-nosed goblin of a man, there’s plenty of sin to kill. At the end you’ll be utterly broken and ready to be raised from the grave, but you’ll be laughing.
Why laughing? Because Jesus loves you.
Yes, really.
That isn’t ‘more’ freedom, it’s learning how to live and move and have our being in the wide freedom that Christ has set us free for; but I think we know what people mean.
I just wished we would say what we want freedom from.
The thing is, a lot of the time I hear this, it doesn’t seem to be repentance that people are after. It seems to be either an experience of the presence of the Spirit (that’s good) or a greater sense of your identity in Christ (that’s… mixed). I’m still unconvinced that ‘identity in Christ’ is a particularly helpful category for everyone. If I’m struggling with modern categories of ‘identity’ then grounding that in the gifts that Christ has given me (like my body, my personality, endless love, freedom from the curse of sin, unquenchable life, mission and purpose… the whole world and everything in it) can be very helpful. Sometimes people talk like it’s the solution to everything, a bit like ‘freedom.’ Most of the time what we mean is that people need Jesus.
What’s the greatest gift he’s given us? Himself. We are united to him by the Spirit and his blood. Can thinking about identity be helpful? Sometimes, but I don’t want a better identity, I want to look at Jesus’ glory and be transformed.
Can thinking about ‘freedom’ as an abstract concept be helpful? Sometimes, but I don’t need ‘more’ freedom, I need to look at Jesus’ glory and be transformed.
I think that’s what most of the freedom speak is getting at—that’s the best I can figure out, anyway—but it would be clearer if we said that. Freedom isn’t a ‘thing,’ it’s found in Jesus. We have a tendency in charismatic circles to start talking about things, but let’s talk about Jesus instead. He’s the one who breaks the chains of slavery and leads a mighty host out of Egypt, through the waters of baptism, into a land where we’re fed with bread from heaven, marching towards a land of milk and honey.
That’s what freedom is. And that’s just common-or-garden Christianity. The Church is the ark that carries us free from the deluge. Jesus is the guide and the deluge-bringer. Jesus is what we need.
Even then we can get our language confused. Sometimes people might say something like ‘we need more of Jesus,’ or ‘we need more of God.’ I think this is easier to understand what people mean, but you can’t have ‘more’ of God. Jesus is the fullness of Yahweh (Colossians 1) and he gives you himself completely, not in part. We often need a greater revelation of what Jesus has given us, or of who Jesus is, or an application of his glory and gifts to a part of our heart or life or thinking that we’ve ignored—and that’s what I assume people mean when they say ‘more of God’—and we should seek that. It can make God sound stingy though: he’s given you his Son, what ‘more’ exactly did you want? Jesus is the cosmic emperor and all things are under his feet, you’re united with him by the Spirit, what exactly ‘more’ do you think there even is?
Christian, you have everything in Christ. So, live like it. Plant garden-cities. Build arks. Lay tables with bread and wine and meat and fish and cake. Realise the richness of the wonder of the glory of God in Christ.
Then realise the really stupid good bit: he loves you. God in Christ is for you.
He always will be.
Photo by Aditya Saxena on Unsplash
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