So, You Want to Be Free?

Remember when Queen told us this (and yes, this is the official music video – just so you know what they wanted to break free from):

The song, released on April 2nd, 1984 (missing April Fool’s Day by one day, in a rather ironic twist) tells us they want to break free as if they are being held prisoner against their will or are somehow enslaved. The subtle undertones of the music video imply that there is a social or cultural slavery going on (even if not found in the words of the song). And this cultural slavery is keeping them down, oppressing them somehow, and they just need to break free of the chains that bind them so that they may finally be happy.

What about these freedom fighters in Canada? Do truck drivers who believe they are being oppressed by their government deserve to be free? At what point do laws, mandates, and government leaders actually become oppressors, eventually prompting people to want to break free?

Remember the riots in Seattle, Washington just two years ago? We were told these people were free to protest and express their views. Even though the looting and rioting certainly seemed threatening to the freedoms of peaceful business owners and families living in the area.

And we should not forget that we are told that freedom is not free:

The world exists today, full of people, who have never experienced a day of slavery in their lives, and yet they constantly enslave themselves. They enslave themselves to the culture, to others around them, to perceived threats to their way of life, to governments, to employers, to drugs and other addictions, and even to religions. Most of all though, the world is full of people enslaved to lies that they do not recognize as lies, or even where those lies come from. And all of us just want to be free.

The real irony of it all is that one person’s freedom is another person’s slavery. There is always a master and a slave. After all, that is how one becomes enslaved in the first place, by being ruled by the master. If drugs are your master, then drugs will rule your life and rob you of your freedoms. And far be it for me to be judgmental here. Jesus did not come into this world to condemn the world (John 3:17), and I have no place passing out condemnation either. I am still chief amongst sinners here and I need the Salvation of the Lord more than anyone else. But that does not change the Truth. Truth still stands and there is still light and dark in the world, and we all need to be aware of that. Sometimes we all feel a little condemned by the Truth and that causes us to embrace the chains that enslave us. No matter what those chains are.

We all want to be free of something. To the point even of arguing who is the greater of the oppressed. Consider the Black Lives Matter movement. Does God consider the worth of one life over another? Of course, He does not. When people argue that black lives should receive a special pass because they have somehow experienced a greater degree of discrimination or oppression, they are simply putting themselves at the forefront. It becomes all about them. And when life become all about you … it is not all about God. The sheer craziness of these movement is that they enslave themselves. Christians are oppressed all over the world and all the time. Yet there is no Christian Lives Matter movement (and I sincerely hope there never will be). Why? Simply because Christians are not enslaved to their oppressors. And they do not bring any attention to their oppressors because to do so would be to take away from their freedom.

You may be an African American today supporting Black Lives Matter. You may be a supporter of abortion (and the, so called, rights thereof). You may be an anarchist decrying the government. You may even be a Christian (or just a theist) and just feel like the whole world is against you. You believe (perhaps without recognizing it) that you are enslaved by the world. You are oppressed. It is discrimination, or threats to your perceived rights, or the government, or others that are taking away your freedoms and keeping you down. And so, we all reach a breaking point where we just want to break free (pun intended). But in doing so we put ourselves at the center of attention, and we (by necessity) put down everyone else. After all, Black Lives Matter could never ever allow ‘White Lives Matter’, or “Asian Lives Matter’, or ‘Jewish Lives Matter’, or ‘Hispanic Lives Matter’, or …. Because to do so would detract from them and would dilute the attention that they believe they so richly deserve (because they are enslaved and no one else – or at the very least, they are enslaved with the heaviest chains).

So why is it that we all feel enslaved by something, even if it is just a tiny little annoyance? Why is it we all feel the weight of the chains to the point we want to cry out that we just want to be free?

I believe the answer to this lies in the understanding of just who it is that enslaves us and who it is that sets us free. 2 Timothy 2:24-26 tells us that Satan has taken us captive at his will. But John 8:35-36 tells us that Jesus is the one who can set us free.

And when Jesus sets us free, we are told that we are free indeed. Meaning we are truly and completely free. And when Christ has made us free, we need not be oppressed by the bondage in this world (Galatians 5:1). We can put off the yoke of bondage that is keeping us down (whatever that is) and be free indeed.

Freedom is a person. And that person is Jesus Christ. And freedom is free. It is His free gift to you. But my freedom does not serve myself. My freedom is nothing more than a vessel to serve Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:10-11 tells us that in Christ there is no bond nor free, no Greek or Jew. But rather Christ is all in all.

When your freedom is all about the Glory of God and uplifting Jesus Christ for all the world to see, then you are truly, and completely free. Do you want to be free today? You need look no further than the person of Jesus Christ.