In the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia, there’s a special display for a rickety, home-made aluminum kayak. This tiny, makeshift boat seems oddly out of place among the displays of impressive Navy vessels and artifacts from significant battles on the sea. However, a bronze plaque tells museum visitors the heroic story behind this humble little kayak.
In 1966, an auto mechanic named Laureano and his wife, Consuelo, decided that they could no longer live under the oppression of Cuba’s totalitarian regime. After spending months collecting scrap metal, they pieced together a boat just barely big enough for two small people. Then Laureano jury-rigged a small lawn mower engine on the back of the kayak. After months of planning, and on a moonless night, they set out into the treacherous straits of Florida wearing only their swimsuits, their supplies consisting of just enough food and water for two days. After 70 hours, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued the couple just south of the Florida Keys.
Was it worth the risk? Laureano said:
“When one has grown up in liberty, you realize how important it is to have freedom. We live in the enormous prison which is Cuba, where one’s life is not worth one crumb. Where one goes out into the street and does not know whether or not one will return because the political police can arrest you without any warning and put you in prison. Before this could happen to us, we thought that going into the ocean and risking death or being eaten by sharks, is a million times better than to stay suffering under political oppression.”
This family bravely fled from oppression to freedom.
Oppression of Darkness Vs. Freedom of Light.
As Christians we, too, have left the oppressive kingdom of darkness to find freedom in God’s Kingdom of light. We are no longer slaves to sin, but called sons and daughters of the King – forgiven and free (Gal. 4:7). John 8:36 says, “if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed.” Now on the shores of a new life, it’s easy to use your freedom selfishly.
13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” - Galatians 5:13-14
We have been set free so that we can fulfill the command of Jesus to love others. Our freedom is not so that we will be without limits to appease our own cravings at any time at whatever cost.
Too many Jesus followers don’t understand this and believe that “freedom knows no limits; if it is limited, it should not be called freedom”.
Jesus chose Freedom with Limitations.
Jesus embraced limitations in leaving heaven to come to earth as a helpless baby, born in a stinky stable. There is no one who has surrendered more freedom than Jesus. Look at what the Apostle Paul teaches us about Jesus choosing to submit to limits and boundaries.
Philippians 2:1–11 (NIV)
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
So, Jesus, the limitless One, chooses to live within boundaries and limits for the sake of love. We know that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).”
Freedom Without Limits Brings Destruction.
Adam and Eve tried to become like God (living without limits), when they ate the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3). They wanted to free themselves of their limitations, but in the process, their sin brought the ultimate limitation of death into the world.
When we live without limits and boundaries built into our understanding of freedom, we try to act like God. We can never attain God’s attributes of omnipresence (always present everywhere), omniscience (all knowing) and omnipotence (all powerful).
We choose to go against His commands thinking, “I won’t suffer any consequences for this sin, I’m different, I can life-hack my way through this and cheat the system”. But what does God's Word say?
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." - Galatians 6:7 (NIV)
In ‘Bible speak’ this is saying, "Nope… you can’t use a cheat code to get around the truth that God has spoken to us."
I am saddened by the pain and struggle in my Christian friends who feel that they have been set free to do anything they want at any time because they have been forgiven, so it doesn’t matter. Paul explains that…
23 “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. - 1 Corinthians 10:23–24 NIV
We are tempted to overindulge in good things all in the name of “freedom in Christ” while not understanding the damage it may be doing to ourselves, our relationships and those who are watching our lives in confusion.
Many who follow Jesus are also quick to sin, simply justifying their actions in their own minds that “it won’t matter because I’ll be forgiven.”
The other way they push the envelope in misusing freedom is simply living like we are God - who has no limits. This usually presents itself more subtly with the inability to say ‘no,’ and a person becoming hopelessly over-committed and burned out.
Jefferson Bethke writes,
“We are chasing freedom. Yet becoming slaves. My guess this is because we have a wrong elementary view of freedom. True freedom has inherent restraint. Boundaries. Bumpers. And limits. But limits is the 21st century swear word.”
Where have you lived in excess in the name of freedom?
What is the Holy Spirit showing you about what areas you have taken freedom out of it’s proper context?
Have you had difficulty saying ‘no’ to others because you are constantly worried that you will not be admired, or worse yet, you may be rejected?
As for me and my house, we will embrace boundaries and limits. Choosing to limit ourselves by following what our loving Father has said in His Word. We will not be Pharisaical and legalistic, but we will live freely within the spacious boundaries of the Kingdom. I choose this understanding of freedom. This is what will allow me to use my freedom to love others and fulfill the command of Jesus.
I look forward to seeing you at our Sunday Worship Service in the Dome beginning at 10:00 a.m.
You can also live stream our 10:00 a.m. service on Facebook and YouTube.
If you missed last week's message from my series Unforced Rhythms of Grace #14, "Freedom and Rhythms" click here.
Need encouragement? Text the word Encourage to 530.296.3689 to receive an encouraging scripture or quote from me several times a week that is sent right to your phone.
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