For a long time, whenever I heard the term "Christian liberty" I usually associated it as a reactionary term against the evils of legalism. No drinking, no dancing, no listening to FM radio. "Hey, we have Christian liberty" was the protesting response. Then an explanation came to mind about the positives of what activities we have liberty to engage in. Wine is God's creation that was given to us to enjoy, or defenses of certain genres of music. I don't fault anybody for taking these things on. But where I made a mistake in this thinking, is that Christian liberty is limited to these things; it is a mere reaction to legalism.
But the scope of Christian liberty is much greater. Christ came so that we may have liberty. Liberty is essentially the freedom to do what is good. Yes, it includes drinking a beer or listening to the Beatles (or not!), and giving thanks to God for those things (or for not doing these things), but exercising our liberty to do good - any good - is part of Christian liberty. Buying some land, tilling the ground and feeding people with your produce is part of Christian liberty. Starting a family and training your children in the ways of the Lord is part of Christian liberty. Writing a book, having a career, changing the world with acts of good, inventing something, producing wealth, helping the poor and disadvantaged, advancing God's kingdom. These are all part of liberty. Let us fully engage our liberty upon the world for the cause of Christ.
(p.s. Jason's post inspired my writing of this. I've wanted to write this for a while, so thanks, Jason for the trigger, even though it's not directly related to your post.)
Your post and Jason's are both enlightening. I was raised in Fresno, my wife is from Visalia. We've lived elsewhere since 1994 or so.
ReplyDeleteBTW, that TP issue ia a pet peeve of mine as well:)