For the past few days, one recurring theme across conversations I've been having is about our freedom as Christians. Being in lockdown has brought to light questions about how we should exercise our freedom as children of God.
Before going deeper, let me lay down some basics:
- We, as children of God, must rely on God's Word as our sole authority;
- We are meant to enjoy God's grace and mercy; and
- We are accountable to God when it comes to our actions.
Let's discuss those points one by one in reverse order. First (or third), we need to emphasize the fact that we are accountable before God when it comes to our actions. We cannot make other people accountable for our actions, no matter how hard they push our buttons.
So then, each of us will give an account ourselves to God. (Romans 14:12, NIV)
This accountability is the precedent we need to work with when attempting to answer the question on how we should practice our freedom.
The second point brings us to the core point that we have been afforded grace and mercy by Christ himself and this allows us to enjoy the freedom that we have right now. However, we must not forget that this freedom came with a price and is not meant for us to place ourselves higher than other people, for us to use as a license to commit sin, or to cause other people to stumble.
But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. (1 Corinthians 8:9, ESV)
The reason I'm sharing my thoughts about these things in the context of the crisis we're facing is because of it pays to remind ourselves that amidst the differing opinions in terms of politics, government response, volunteer work, or whatever example you can think of, these things don't define our identity in Christ. As Christians, we should continue to anchor ourselves to the grace of God. We must be careful that we don't start judging people just because they have different stands.
The last point, which will also serve as my conclusion is the non-negotiable truth that at the end of the day, whatever preferences we have, we must still bound ourselves to the authority of God's Word and God's leading as to how we should respond to every situation we face.
There's a lot of things that are considered disputable matters meaning the Bible does not explicitly state which is right or wrong and we're free to decide on our own but at the end of the day, we must make sure that what we decide on must glorify God and is meant to build up fellow members of the body of Christ. Freedom is not a license to do what we want but the opportunity to fully enjoy the grace of God in our lives.