let freedom ring

I was born on the 4th of July, a day when America’s independence is celebrated with the smell of barbecue wafting from neighborhood to neighborhood, and the booms of fireworks echo across the night sky.  Your next-door-neighbor swears that he’s merely experimenting with his new “George Foreman Grill” (even if it looks like he’s just about to burn the steaks), and the radio is full of party-worthy songs like Katy Perry’s “Fireworks” or Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”

As a child, I was always taught that the 4th of July commemorated the declaration of America’s freedom from the tyrannical ruling of England. However, as I grew older, I started to question and try to understand what ‘freedom’ really meant to me. I started wondering what all this talk about independence and fighting for freedom was about.  Sure, 8th grade Social Studies class taught me about the Redcoats and Paul Revere.  And my AP European History class taught me that the Founding Fathers had been influenced by the French Enlightenment ideals of “liberty, equality, and brotherhood”.

But I wanted to learn more, not just on a historical level, but on a personal level.

What was it about the idea of ‘freedom’ that attracts minds and captures hearts?

My faith in Christ transformed my concept of freedom.

Freedom in Christ means I follow God, not a rulebook or a check-list of deeds I need to do. Dogmatic constrictions do not box me into a prison. Nor do I believe that spirituality should be watered down to a list of vices to avoid. If good works earned salvation, then I would fail because no matter how hard I try to be good, I will never be perfect. This is where God comes in and gives me a grace that covers the multitude of my sins and a grace that changes my heart to live for Him and not for me. Some of you may ask, “So does this mean I can do whatever I want?” Nope. It’s more like, “I want to do what God wants me to do.” Why? Because God loves me. Let’s remember that freedom without guidelines is not true freedom. God gave us His Word to teach us how to live freely “by the Spirit” and not on our own accord (Galatians 5:25).

I was once a slave. A slave to sin, the evil desires of my heart, the worldly ambitions and greed that can entangle the mind so easily. When I was young, I wanted to be a princess or an actress; in other words, I wanted to be rich and famous. When I was young, jealousy of others sparked a vengeful fire. And as a teenager, I felt trapped; I would always work so hard at school, staying up late to finish that AP Literature essay on Wuthering Heights, or cramming Calculus problems during lunch. No matter how much effort I put in, sometimes I did not get the result I wanted. Grades consumed me. A money-making career was my sole pursuit. I was once a slave to worldly desires. I was once a slave to my self-deprecation and selfishness.

However, life radically changed when Jesus pulled me out from the depths of the darkest pockets of my soul and freed me. Freedom from death. Freedom from my very self. Freedom to live not for myself, but for Jesus. Freedom to look at fellow mankind, recognize our shared humanity, and love. The day before I returned to Brown from winter break, I was baptized. In baptism, going down into the water symbolizes how Jesus died for me because of my sins. I recognize that I was once a slave to sin… but then I rise up from the water, symbolizing how Christ rose up from the dead and conquered death for us so that we may have new life (and eternal life!) in Him. In the Book of Romans, the apostle Paul writes, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” My baptism did not save me; it is just a proclamation of my faith.  In fact, nothing I do can save me.  No matter how good I try to be, I will always fall short… It is by God’s grace that Jesus Christ rescued me and freed me.

My faith journey is ongoing. Being a child of God does not mean I will lead a perfect life. I still sin and annoy my brothers and ask forgiveness. But it means I am secure in His love. In a world full of death and suffering and pain, in a world full of human slavery and condemnation and oppression, how unfailing is the love of Christ. How perfect is the salvation by Christ. How beautiful is the freedom in Christ.