Where My Thoughts on Freedom Went Today

Today is the fourth of July—the 250^th anniversary of our country’s freedom, in fact.

And while my thoughts this morning began with how grateful I am for the freedom we have in this country, they soon turned to the church and what I’m seeing and hearing right now.

My heart breaks when I read posts from people online that vilify fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. And the mean-spirited comments I read under these posts (I should know by now to never read the comments) have broken my heart and moved me to tears. How will anyone ever believe that we are people who follow Jesus when we hold contempt in our hearts toward fellow Christians?

Are we aware of the significant impact that our contemptuous and hateful words, which vilify others online, have on those who read them? Do we consider for a moment whether these sentiments align with Christlike values? Such words and attitudes harm individuals and damage the body of Christ.

“Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 4:31-5:2).

Just so you know, at our church…

• We believe in God who created heaven and earth.

• We believe in Christ and profess that he is the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered in the flesh, was crucified by sinful humans, and raised to life again by the power of the Spirit of God on the third day to save us from sin and death and reconcile all of creation back to God.

• We believe in the Holy Spirit—that as forgiven sons and daughters we are empowered by the Spirit of God to be transformed in our hearts and minds more and more into Christlikeness, to serve all others in the same love, compassion, grace, wisdom, and power that Jesus did.

• We believe in the church universal—that all believers in Christ Jesus are one body.

• We believe we will rise again with Christ to new life.

As a pastor and follower of Jesus, these are the hills I will die on. (Notice I said I will die on, not harm another person on.)

So, when someone disagrees with me about other issues—or even these fundamental beliefs of the Christian faith—I must first practice what I believe and trust that the Holy Spirit knows how to:

• Give me the love, grace, wisdom, and compassion I need to engage in meaningful, productive conversation

• Help me hear another person and be curious about why they think what they think about certain issues

• Remind me that everyone—everyone— is a beloved child of God even when they don’t reflect Christ’s love, compassion, grace, or humility in any given moment

• Give me grace for when I am the one not listening, closing off, holding contempt, acting out of pride.

“Pride takes many forms… [When I'm pridefule], my inner dialogue follows a narrative that always ends in my favor, my superiority: I might not be the best, but thank God, I am not the worst. Thank you, Lord, for making me not like them—whoever them is in the moment…” (Ask of Old Paths, pg. 31, Grace Hamman).

What I appreciate about my church, Parkway Heights (this is not a complete list):

• You will not hear any of our pastors or staff members vilify anyone else.

• No, everyone does not agree on every issue, but we love one another and see that being in community, unified by Christ and willing to navigate the challenging relational issues that come with being in community with one another, is worth it.

• We love Jesus and want to know him more.

• We love, study, seek to understand and live by God’s word revealed in Scripture.

• We ask questions.

• We love and welcome people.

• We serve our local community.

• We support mission efforts locally, nationally, and globally.

• We seek to understand people who are different from us.

• We regularly welcome new individuals and families into our faith community.

• We have fun together.

• We train people how to walk alongside others through grief and other difficult situations.

• We comfort the sick and the dying.

• We celebrate life.

  
  

We are not perfect. No faith community is. But we have remained together through some tough times when many others were ripped apart by division and animosity.

I’m grateful that during a time of great denominational disagreement, people who felt like they needed to move on did so quietly.

I’m grateful that the people who remained allowed it without criticism or judgment.

I’m grateful that people who felt they needed to leave another faith community found welcome and family in ours.

Today, as I consider freedom—the true freedom we all have in Christ—I remember that freedom is not about the freedom to judge others with a spirit of contempt, but the freedom to look at myself first with humility and an openness to the Spirit of God who searches even the depths of my heart and sees my deepest longings and cravings, my messed up allegiances, who and what I’m afraid of, and doesn’t condemn me, but loves me into wholeness.

So, before we look at others with contempt and then act on that contempt with name-calling and justifications for why we’re right and they’re wrong, what if we all paused and looked inward and asked the Spirit of God to reveal the pride, hypocrisy, and unfaithfulness that dwells in our own hearts?

What if we did that work first?

What freedom would we find there?

What healing, love, forgiveness, and reconciliation would become possible in that wide open space of grace?

You are free to do that work.

You are free to forgive others for how they have hurt you.

You are free to receive forgiveness when the Spirit shows you how you are missing the mark.

You are free not to shame someone into believing as you believe, but to give other people the space and time they need with the Spirit of God and that the Spirit needs with them to be formed more into the likeness of Christ.

Today, as you celebrate your freedom, remember what true freedom is. It’s not about getting everything you want and surrounding yourself with people who are just like you. It’s definitely not about the freedom to belittle, name-call, or spew toxic venom about others.

It’s about the freedom to die to yourself so you can live your life the way Christ would live it if he were you.

Happy Fourth, my friends.

“And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’” 1 Peter 5:5b