One might wonder, what is the source of my burden for issues of liberty, and how is it related to my faith?
I believe that those who claim the name of Christ should be strong supporters of liberty.
I hearken back to the words of Jesus:
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” (John 8:31-38, ESV)
Now I know that Jesus is specifically speaking of being set free from the bondage of sin in this passage, but the application of that freedom in real life situations is the desire and the ability (by His power) to love good and to do right. We are set free from our native slavery to sin, being born in original sin inherited from our first parents. In essence, that freedom comes from God Himself, in His gracious mercy towards us to release us from that bondage to sin.
Following on this idea, I might ask, what is the natural result of being born in sin? The result manifests itself in every area of our lives by our glaring preoccupation with ourselves and our own abilities. The definition of that preoccupation is "pride" and is deeply rooted in the heart of even the most humble of those who have not been set free in Christ. We are constantly bombarded in the media by those who unassumingly play the cult of personality for their benefit. Even those who apparently do things selflessly for others have in their hearts that in-born root of pride. As Christians, we are called to bring glory to the One who is the source of life and all good things, even for those personality traits and material gifts which each of us possess to a lesser or a greater degree. Until we are humbled to realize that, we don't fully understand the good news of the gospel.
On a larger scale, society as a whole (not just the US, but through all of history) celebrates the accomplishments of humans, and overlooks the source of that accomplishment, which is the life, intelligence, and ingenuity endowed on us by our Creator. Man becomes the measure of all things, not the God who created him. Now it is true that man holds the highest place in God's creation; the evangelical church has not been faithful in proclaiming the superior position and the preciousness of man in God's creation. We were created last, and we were created the highest: of more importance and value than even all of the heavenly bodies, and all of the other created beings. However, we were still created and did not mysteriously come into being by our own strength and intelligence. Wouldn't one logically think that if there is a Creator, then those created beings would be beholden to such an entity??
Obviously, the answer to that last question is a resounding "no." Man over all of history has consistently made himself the measure of all things and has blocked out the thought of God (Romans 1).
Th application of the personal rebellion has affected society's institutions (the largest of which is government) which has operated according to the paradigm that man is an end in himself. The first glaring example of society's rebellion against a "higher authority" is recorded in Genesis 11:
"Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth." (ESV)
So, what was the error of their ways that caused God to make such a momentous move? Man knew that he had intelligence, ingenuity, and power, but instead of bringing glory to God, and living under His rule, they chose to exalt themselves against that God and build a tower representing that "independence." We are suffering the result of that rebellion to this present day, but the rebellion hasn't ended: it's still alive and well.
How is that rebellion still alive and well today, thousands of years after the Tower of Babel? It's my argument that man has constructed society in the way that he sees fit, and not according to the law of God written on each of our hearts. This expresses itself not just in personal individual rebellion against God, but that rebellion seeks to use the greatest and most humanly powerful means to exalt man, and that is the power of the government of man.
I realize that government was instituted to accomplish good (see Romans 13), and even when government is not good (e.g. the ancient evil kings of Israel), it accomplishes the purposes for which it is ordained by God, which may even be to execute judgement. However, that institution has the greatest ability, also, to pervert the law of God by ignoring His law, and perhaps even directly opposing it (think of the many evil empires throughout the history of man).
It is my contention that one of the most insidious, but powerfully destructive "rebellions" against the rule of God in our society today is the attempted government control and manipulation of the rewards of our labors: our money. I equate it in every way with the attempted Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. Man wants to be the controller of his own destiny, and therefore attempts to control the value of our currency through inflation (e.g. - the Federal Reserve) (and in an ancillary fashion through the theft of the IRS - an unholy redistribution of the fruits of our labors). That practice is enabled by the establishment of a "fiat" currency (value is determined by the market competition with other "fiat" currencies) and is not based on real assets (like gold, for example). Can you begin to see how this system can be manipulated by "printing" more money (thus devaluing the existent currency) in an attempt to control and stabilize the fruits of our labor, rather than basing its value on a hard asset and keeping a reference point for its value? We have become SO used to this, that we accept it fully; however, isn't it possible that this sin, started small and is now overwhelming and so we are hostage to it. In essence, inflating the currency is equal to theft, and dishonest weights were condemned by the Old Testament prophets, and by the Ten Commandments. The world (not just the US) is part of this giant game, which I believe is another attempt to build a tower reaching to the skies, like the builders of the Tower of Babel. Governments grow larger and infringe on more of our basic liberties (the God given right to control ones own life, under the law of God) largely by controlling the fruits of our labor. This is nothing less than a total rebellion against the law that God has established, that we deserve the fruit of our labor, and that we share with others out of our plenty. Instead of being dependent upon God, we have sought to construct a way to bring His temporal blessings without having anything to do with Him. I have a particular burden for this manifestation of sin in our society because, as I mentioned earlier, it is so insidious and so all encompassing in the world.
Isn't it possible that God will bring judgement to us for this rebellion against His law? I wonder what mode that judgement will take, but in any fashion, it will not be good. There could be widespread suffering and shortages on unimaginable scales.
More discussions to come...
