Editorial: Is that what freedom means?

What does freedom mean to you?

When I was a boy in Albuquerque, I loved the bumper sticker I was given at a Kirtland Air Force Base air show that read, “Jet Noise The Sound of Freedom.” All I wanted to be was a fighter pilot, and I did love the sound of jet noise. But freedom means much more to me now.

After the year we’ve experienced, we need to reflect on the meaning of freedom. Between the last Independence Day and this one, much happened to test our definitions. Yes, we need to be clear minded about freedom.

Reflecting on freedom is not a mere exercise for Baptists; it gets to the core of who we are. As such, we cannot take freedom for granted, nor can we assume it is understood or that definitions are shared.

For Baptists, freedom is more and deeper than politics and government; it is so much more than liberty and license. Baptists were at the forefront of political freedoms in early America precisely because they held freedom to be so much deeper than politics. Many Baptists still stand at the front for that reason.

In a few days, we will celebrate our brazen declaration of independence from Great Britain. We will mark another year since the birth of the United States, though what our political freedom meant depended on winning a war and after doing so would be worked out over several more years through the constitutional convention and ratification process.

Amid the parades, musicals, picnics, barbecue, fireworks and other celebrations this year, we need to talk about what freedom means.

Where Christians start

Baptists are just one group of Christians. As shocking as that may be, it is true. So, Baptist understanding of freedom starts where all Christians start.

Freedom for Christians begins and ends in Jesus. How did Jesus define freedom?

We like to quote Jesus when he said, “Who the Son sets free is free indeed” (John 8:36), but we may be using only part of Jesus’ words in support of our definition of freedom. We may even be conflating Jesus’ words with a political definition of freedom.

Likewise with Paul: “It was for freedom that Christ set us free” (Galatians 5:1).

All too often, these words from Jesus and Paul are presented in American churches as biblical—and even divine—support for our political liberty. However, Jesus and Paul were not talking about political freedom. Both were talking about freedom from sin.

Freedom from sin is unaffected by politics and government. Quite the opposite: A Christian’s freedom from sin should be the ground of our engagement in politics, government and society at large—an influence that looks like Jesus, not a Christianized version of Caesar.

Baptist developments of freedom

With freedom from sin as a foundation, Baptists advocate for religious and soul freedom, among other freedoms. Freedom here means freedom from constraint.

Religious freedom is Baptists’ oldest influence on American politics and government. So important is religious freedom to Baptists that the likes of Roger Williams and John Leland used their influence to ensure its practice in American government. Leland’s influence led to religious freedom’s inclusion in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …” (First Amendment)

We are grateful for the freedom to worship or not worship according to conscience rather than government mandate. But is that what freedom means?

A related freedom is soul freedom, which Walter Shurden and other Baptists define as individual accountability to God “without the imposition of creed, the interference of clergy, or the intervention of civil government.” (Shurden, The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms, p. 23).

Here again, we are grateful to have direct access to God, and we must remember that access comes in and through Jesus, the “one mediator between God and humankind” (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 9:15).

We may take soul freedom for granted and assume such access entails benefits without responsibility—what amounts to little more than personal liberty. But is that what freedom means?

Freedom now

We don’t seem to discuss freedom this deeply these days. However substantive our discussions of freedom, they tend to revolve around personal liberties—what I am free to do.

Here’s where “the preacher goes to meddlin’.”

Are you free to carry a gun, get vaccinated, wear a mask, have an abortion, marry who you love, vote, use the bathroom of your choice, serve the customers you want to serve, educate your children where you want, buy what you want, watch what you want, consume what you want? Am I? Are we?

At surface level, these are social, political, medical and economic concerns. At least some also have religious significance. They all rely on our definition of freedom. But is this the freedom for which Christ set us free?

Well, is it?

An honest reading of Scripture makes clear neither Jesus nor Paul seemed particularly concerned about freedom as it relates to government overreach, libertarian policies or bipartisan miracles. Jesus and Paul defined freedom in relation to sin.

However, so much of present Christian concern about freedom is mired at the surface level of personal liberty. We seem to have forgotten, when people tried to pin Jesus to Caesar or open rebellion, he pointed to a third option as though it were as plain as the noses on their faces: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (Matthew 22:21).

Right now, you may be assigning me a particular political view because of the last paragraph. Whether your conclusion is right or wrong, we still need to answer: What does freedom mean?

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @EricBlackBSP.