By Kevin Alton
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
There’s an old joke about the Fourth of July: Do they have a fourth of July in England? Occasionally you’ll catch someone off-guard with this one, but the answer should be immediately obvious: Of course they do. They just don’t celebrate it. It’s easy to forget sometimes, but the weekend we now schedule with cookouts, fireworks, and baseball games commemorates a bloody war on our home soil, as residents of the thirteen American colonies fought for freedom from a country that sought to tax them without representation and to govern them without giving them a voice.
The decision by our country’s founders to rebel against the Kingdom of Great Britain couldn’t have been an easy one. The colonists had left behind other homes in other lands. Many of them left behind families. To sever the relationship with Britain meant, for many colonists, forever separating themselves from the people and places of those memories, establishing the future as “here” and the past as “there.” It meant freedom, to be sure—but that freedom carried a hefty price tag.
Set Free
In the heart of every middle and high school student there’s a churning. Some feel it more deeply or struggle more violently with that churning than others; some may even try to resist it. But each of them is beginning to wrestle with a desire to be free. As they develop unique identities and define themselves apart from their parents, young people long to set their own rules and make their own decisions. The freedom to do what they want to do when they want to do it certainly sounds appealing but, as adults, even we know that freedom has its boundaries.
The driver’s license has long been a symbol of teenage freedom and independence. But a driver’s license isn’t a magic ticket to go anywhere and do anything on the road. There are rules and laws to follow, gas and maintenance to pay for, and curfews to obey. The freedom that comes with driving is great, but it also comes with responsibility and requires discipline.
Free From, Free To
As Christians we know that, through Christ, we are free from sin and death. Like the freedom that our country’s founders sought, our freedom had a cost. Christ died on the cross, paying for our freedom. Through the price has been paid, our freedom still requires responsibility on our part. God calls us to be messengers of freedom by working to free those who are enslaved by poverty, despair, and sickness and by telling people the good news of freedom through Christ. We are freed from sin and freed to do the work of God’s kingdom.
This weekend, as people around the United States host barbecues, attend family and church gatherings, and light up the sky with fireworks, there will be much talk of freedom. We will celebrate our country’s independence and the liberties that we have as a result. For those of us who love and follow Christ, this holiday is an opportunity to reflect on the priceless freedom that we have gained through his death and resurrection and how we can use that freedom to glorify God.
This article is also published as part of LinC, a weekly digital resource for youth small groups and Sunday school classes. The complete study guide can be purchased and downloaded here.
