Today, again we celebrate the birth of our great nation. America is an experiment in freedom. As any other experiment, it may lead the experimenters to greater self-determination discoveries. It may lead also to failure. Thus far the experiment has yielded great results for America and the world. Although our nation is the most powerful country upon whom many other peoples depend for defense and leadership, America is still in the process of becoming, as we shout with Samuel F. Smith:
My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty; of thee, I sing; Land where my fathers died; land of the pilgrims’ pride. From every mountain side, let freedom ring.
While America strives to attain greatness for the sake of its people and the world, a program of maintenance must be in place to protect what already has been attained. What can we Christians do to advance the cause of freedom? Much is yet to be done. At home, we most unite. We most stop using freedom to advance personal agendas at the expense of destroying collective interests. "Personal rights end when others' rights begin" was a most important civic lesson to my generation when I and other people about my age (73) were growing up. Yet, today respect for the rights of others is suffering much violence. The media informs us of the daily occurrence of what people are doing to each other in our beloved country. Today, freedom is used to destroy, not to build. Why is the great principle of freedom being abused exponentially, as it is today? The freedom ideal results from the firm believe in the sovereignty of God, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, who created humanity to live in harmony among themselves and under His loving Fatherhood. But such belief system is weak in present day believers and non-existing in a growing multitude, who disassociate themselves from such a belief system considered by them irrelevant. Sociological research, however, indicates that religion is one of three basic social institutions shaping society, along with the family and education. In fact, religion shapes the other two. Christian religion is the quest for ultimate reality. In Jewish and Christian lore, religious belief is the human responding in kind to divine love. The Old Testament is replete with passages outlining the grace and love of God for humanity. New Testament writers state that Christianity is predicated on the same principles. Jesus worked to free his people from the bondage of ignorance and superstition, offering them abundant living in fellowship with God. Jesus idea of freedom begins with the work of God. In freedom to create or not to create, God brought into existence Creation itself. When God created humans, the Most High made them to be free to exercise their right to choose, to the extent that although the LORD had high expectations from humans, the Almighty allowed humans to maintain their freedom in spite of acting contrary to divine will. According to Jesus, however, ultimate freedom is exercised when humans break the bonds keeping them from complying with God’s expectations to conform to the design of the Creator. Jesus insisted that to be his disciples, his followers freely would have to belief and advance the great truth that God wants to have intimate fellowship with humans as Father and for humans to treat each other as loving siblings, living so thereafter (John 8:31-32). The freedom ideals of Jesus became a reality as his followers carried out his teachings, which eventually changed institutional religion and, with it, life in society. Should we work to recover the ideal of freedom as it was intended? As believers, we carry a freedom message to humanity the world over, a reinforcement to those who share these ideals with us as well as those who do not. We are free to
• worship God • grow spiritually • serve others • live normal and moral lives
May you and yours have a most blessed holiday Best wishes in the Lord
ON THE LIMITATIONS OF FREEDOM By J.C.Cordova, D.Min., LCSW