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Thoughts about Freedom
by
Commissioner Wesley Harris
AROUND the world are millions of people who
hanker for freedom and I have in mind those living under
repressive regimes who are denied many of the liberties which
some of us take for granted. For example, electoral freedom,
religious freedom and the right of free speech are privileges
often most valued by those who don’t have them! We who do have
them should also count them as great blessings and give
thanks.
However, the whole concept of freedom is one we need to turn
over in our minds. What does it mean? How free is free?
Really, how free are many living in the so-called ‘free
world’?
Is freedom simply the right to do what we like? Or is it the
power to do what we ought? Paradoxically, those who do what
they like sometimes then don’t like what they do and St Paul
bore witness to that in the seventh chapter of his letter to
the Romans:. He wrote, ‘What I do is not the good I want to
do’
Strange as it sounds the greatest freedom is sometimes enjoyed
by those who voluntarily restrict their right to do what they
like. Marriage might provide an example; it is a bond and yet
it can be wonderfully liberating. The cynic might dismiss holy
wedlock as unholy deadlock but his gag is lost on those of us
for whom marriage has been wonderfully enriching.
Then take sport. Lads kicking a tin can in a back alley may
not be governed by rules but those who have the ‘freedom’ of
the professional soccer pitch most certainly are. There may be
rules with which a player might not agree and about which he
may lobby in the right quarters but if he flouts the rules on
the field of play the referee will have no option but to send
him off. But within the framework of mutually accepted rules
meaningful sport can take place. Real freedom has rules
attached.
The same kind of thing must obtain in a school, a club or a
church. Freedom must be qualified and include responsibility
and accountability.
Sometimes we find the greatest freedom when we are prepared to
limit our right to do what we like in order to serve a higher
purpose. For example, when I became a Salvation Army officer I
was ready to forgo my right to live and work where I chose. I
voluntarily gave up the rights which many of my friends took
for granted. But in the event I have found a freedom in
service as wide as the world. My way would have been nothing
like as free as God’s way.
The greatest authority on freedom is Jesus. He said, ‘If the
Son sets you free you will be free indeed’ (John 8.36). Think
about it!
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