Captive freedom

In the United States, freedom is highly valued. Pastor Phil Kniss acknowledged that the Bible is full of stories of freedom, and he suggested that Biblical freedom may look very different from our current views of freedom. In Romans 6:15-23, Paul speaks of Biblical freedom. We are free from bondage to despair and shame. But while we are free, we are still slaves to God, servants of righteousness. God allows us to choose to follow God’s ways. In effect, we choose our boundaries or fences. This is good. We need those boundaries. But Pastor Phil also said that boundaries can become problematic. Too much focus on boundaries can lead to neglecting the center. We need both. In Matthew 16:24-26, Jesus invites us to take up our cross and follow him. This is a challenging and necessary task. As a faith community we fact the challenge of setting boundaries and tending the center. This is a part of the hard work we must do, the “cross” we must carry. It is happening now in our struggles with what we believe about same-sex relationships. In all of the messy work, we need to continue to tend to our center to keep it strong and hold us together.