Freedom (Galatians 5)
“The tyranny of freedom”
[PLAY PHARRELL WILLIAM’S ‘SERMON’ ON FREEDOM]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YsoSl1OMPk
Introduction (511)
The promise of freedom is intoxicating.
“I’m free to do what I want any old time”
I’m free to do what I want, when I want, how I want, with who I want
According to that George Michael clip - freedom is the most important word in the
world. “Don't let anyone take this away from you.”
And how did Pharrell Williams put it?
I don’t care how much money you have in a bank account
How rich your family is
Or where you come from
If you’re a human being
you need some sort of freedom!
There’s always somebody in your life - or something in your life - trying to
chain you down and tell you what you can and cannot do
but tonight - England! - we’re gonna get freedom… so tonight if you have
beautiful English blood in your body I want you to show the rest of the world
what Freedom looks like when I say Freedom. Say Freedom!
The promise of freedom is intoxicating.
• And that’s why our advertisers tap into it to sell everything from Jeeps to
tampons.
• That’s why world leaders have tapped into it to bring about momentous social
change - we think of Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King
Jnr.
• That’s why in conversation - in the workplace - on social media - we constantly
hear of people proclaiming their right to be free from other people’s expectations,
free from duty, free from shame, free from religion, free from anyone telling them
what they can and can’t do.
This longing for freedom is lodged deep inside us
And we see the way it plays out in all sorts of spheres of life
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In the relationships between
• Parents and children
• Teachers and students
• Employers and employees.
• Governments and citizens
It is a universal human longing. And we value it more in our age than any age
before us. Our freedom to choose - to believe - to speak.
But how free are we?
To what extent do we - in our educated, wealthy, technologically advanced, secular
society - experience the kind of freedom we long for?
Continuing our series thinking about “the stories we live by”. And so we’re thinking
about the assumptions and beliefs that are commonly held by people in our culture
about freedom - and which often go un-examined. These assumptions are a bit like
the lenses on Polaroid which are designed to keep some types of light out
(reflected light - glare) and let other kinds of light in. People’s assumption and
beliefs can work the same way. Keeping out some kinds of ideas and letting others
in.
• So. We want to learn to identify these beliefs and understand how they might
make people more or less open to the gospel?
• And we want to think about how we can help our friends, family members,
colleagues examine their assumptions about freedom so that they might be more
open to considering a better freedom story.
Going to follow the same basic approach as we have in the previous two weeks.
Consider the stories our culture tells about freedom. Consider how the gospel
speaks into our longing for freedom. And then consider how we can talk to our
friends about freedom in a way that encourages them to re-examine their
assumptions.
• Freedom in culture
• Freedom in Christ
• Freedom in conversation
Let’s start by looking at Galatians 5.
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1. Freedom in culture (Freedom that enslaves)
Traditional approach
Freedom in Galatians 5
Right off the bat Paul’s words speak into our longing for freedom.
And this is perhaps surprising because Christianity doesn’t seem to have much to
contribute to freedom. Christianity is more often associated with oppressive rules
and moralism. French philosopher from Enlightenment (Diderot) said - we will never
be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest. Christianity
still seen as authoritarian system of dos and don’ts backed up with heavenly
judgement.
And yet Paul claims that the Christian gospel stands for exactly the opposite of all
this. Verse 1:
1 For freedom Christ has set us free.
What he’s saying is this - everything Christ has done for you - all the benefits you
get from knowing Jesus - can be summed up in this most important word - freedom.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Free from sin - from guilt - from judgement - from shame
Free from hostility towards your neighbour
Free from being isolated from God
Free from basing your identity on your performance
Free from always having to please people
Free from the burden of moralism
Free from the despair caused by death
Freedom to know infinite love
Freedom to find meaning and satisfaction that is eternally secure
Freedom to dedicate your life to someone who not let you down
Freedom to know a peace and contentment that is stronger than any bad
experience
• Freedom to hope that there’s a future that will be infinitely better than today
•
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The tyranny of shame
The reason Paul is writing this to the church in Galatia is because the Christians
there are in danger of of submitting to a religious tyranny that will rob them of this
freedom.
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There were Jewish Christians in the early church who were putting enormous
pressure on the non-Jewish Christians to submit to all the laws of the Jewish Torah
- the Old Testament. They argued that if non-Jews wanted to be accepted into the
church - if they wanted to enjoy fellowship with Jewish Christians as full members
of God’s family - they not only had to turn to Christ - they also had to submit to the
Jewish laws.
And so Paul is writing this letter to say - Don’t do it. See verse 1:
Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
For a Christians to submit to religious legalism like this would be like a slave - who
has been set free - choosing to return to slavery.
And so Paul says to the Galatians. Don’t go back. Christ has set you free.
And you’ve got to say - this resonates with our modern approach to freedom. In
modern secular culture freedom is defined as - what? The absence of constraints.
Throwing off tyranny. Throwing off constraints. Throwing off the moral demands and
oppressive values of religion - or of your conservative culture - of your family.
We’ve been exploring this shift in modern culture of the last few weeks. We’ve seen
how traditionally a person’s identity and moral frameworks were determined by
something external to them - their family, their social status, their religion, their
gender. A person’s identity and morality was determined - in relation to - other
people. And there were all sorts of obligations and expectations that came with this.
You might be expected to marry a certain kind of person. To worship in a certain
kind of church. To build a certain kind of career. And perform a certain role within
your family .And if you failed to live up to these expectations - you would bring
shame not just on yourself - but on your family, your boss, your village.
And so traditional cultures tended to suppress individual freedom so that the
community can flourish. And they used shame to do it. They used shame as the
way of bringing social cohesion.
Now of course we still experience this kind of social pressure today. Pressure to live
up to expectations from our family - or at work.
- there have been articles in the paper this week - a guy called Dustin Moskovitz one of the founders of Facebook - talking about the way that employers often try
to create a workplace culture where everyone works late - so that no one will
dare to leave on time. They basically shame their employees into working longer
hours. If you leave before the others you’re letting the team down. That’s the
workplace.
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- In the family too - children often suffer under the weight of their parents’
expectations - ministers can be a classic for this - because we think that our
children’s behaviour reflects on us - because we worry what people will think of
us - we pressure our families to act in certain ways.
- mothers today feel so much guilt as they try to balance work and family
- young people can feel crushing pressure to live up to their families hopes for
them - and I presume that grandparents also feel pressure from family members
to meet expectations.
We still feel stifled by these traditional pressures - our individual freedom is still
suppressed by social expectations today - and shame is still a part of life for many
people.
But now there’s been a radical change. Whereas previously a person’s identity and
moral framework was determined by their relationship to others - now more and
more we turn inwards to define these things for ourselves - there is a basic belief in
our culture that we should define who we are and how we live on our own terms we see ourselves as sovereign.
The Modern Approach
Free “from”
And so the modern approach to freedom goes something like this:
All sorts of things - and many people - will try to limit my freedom
But if I’m going to be happy
then I need to throw off this tyranny
And do what I want, when I want, how I want, with whomever I want
As long as my freedom doesn’t harm anyone else
It’s pretty much what Pharrell Williams said in that clip earlier.
And so whereas the traditional approach suppressed individual freedom so that the
community could flourish.
The modern approach suppresses the interests of the community so that individual
freedom can flourish.
John Mill - “On Liberty”
One of the people who first articulated this new approach to freedom was a
philosopher called John Stuart Mill. In 1859 he wrote a famous paper called “On
Liberty” which explores humanity’s struggle to free itself from tyranny.
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Mill’s basic argument is that the way to protect the rights of individuals is by giving
each individual complete freedom to do whatever they like - so long as they don’t
cause harm to others.
The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a
civilised community against his will is to prevent harm to others. [NB: = the “No
Harm Principle”]
His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot
rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so,
because it will make him happier, because in the opinions of others to do so would
be wise or even right. These are good reasons for remonstrating with him, or
reasoning with him, or persuading him, or entreating with him, but not for
compelling him, or visiting him with any evil in case he do otherwise…
The only part of the conduct of anyone for which he is amenable to society, is that
which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his
independence is, of right, absolute.
Over himself, his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.”
I am free when I am free FROM any obstacle or impediment to doing what I want.
The Tyranny of self indulgence
So what does Paul say about this? Verse 13:
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your
freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence
He’s saying - if you only understand freedom as freedom “from” - freedom from
religion, from social pressures, from moral constraints - then there is a danger that
your new found freedom will result in a new kind of tyranny.
In the first place it will be a tyranny for those around you.
Verse 15:
15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not
consumed by one another.
See there’s a different take on consumerism - if you only understand freedom as
freedom FROM constraints - if freedom is simply the right to do what you want,
when you want, how you want, with whoever you want - then you will end up
devouring other people.
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There was a great article about this the other week. Andrew Beeston shared it on
Facebook.
- it was about the Nick Kyrgios sledging scandal.
The thing which made this article so interesting is that - unlike many of the other
articles written about Kyrgios in the last couple of weeks - is that instead of
condemning Kyrgios it interpreted his behaviour as a symptom of our increasing
emphasis on individual freedom. The author, Will Hutton, writes:
The shared social and cultural capital that used to generate a sense of shared duty
to the game is in retreat. Respect withers. Self-interest rules.
There is a surrender to me-first, trash-your-opponent values captured so vividly by
Nick Krygios.
Nor is this just confined to sport. You only need look at the vitriol and spite among
bloggers, the incredible aggression in many emails even between colleagues in the
same office or the vicious misogyny emerging online to worry that the terms of
social interaction are being degraded.
If we can’t act together, if privatisation and personal enrichment are the lodestars of
the public domain, then it is everyone for themselves. And the brutal culture on a
tennis court or trading room naturally follows.
He’s saying exactly what Paul says - the modern approach which exalts individual
freedom as freedom any constraint will enslave others - and so it will enslave you.
In verse 19 Paul fleshes this out:
19 Now the works of the flesh (same word as self indulgence in v13) are
obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities,
strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness,
carousing, and things like these.
Now this sounds so old fashioned. This is exactly the kind of language that our
modern culture rails against. We want to throw it off. And yet time and time again it
is proven to be true. Self sovereign freedom - self indulgent freedom - enslaves
you.
EG. Ashley Madison
We’ve seen it in just the last few days with the Ashley Madison scandal.
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In case you haven’t heard of it Ashley Madison is an organisation which uses the
Internet to help married people have an affair. And in the last week its huge data
base of subscribers has been hacked and released to the public.
Can you imagine how stressful this last week has been for men - and it’s mostly
men - who have their name on that list? Desperately hoping that somehow their
name won’t be revealed - that their partner won’t find out.
You can imagine some of the tears and conversations as these names have come
out into the open. There was a heart wrenching scene played out on Commercial
Radio - that bastion of integrity and high morals - this week. As the two radio hosts
from NOVA revealed to a woman from Blacktown called Jo that her worst fears had
come true - her husband’s name was on the Ashley Madison list.
Ashley Madison is just one expression of the modern approach to freedom - which
enslaves both the individual and those around them.
Eg. Franzen’s “Freedom”
I’ve been reading a novel this week by Jonathan Franzen which is called Freedom.
And it’s brilliantly written. It tells the story of this woman’s life - her name is Patty and at the start she seems so perfect - a champion basketballer in college - tall and
athletic - she marries a lovely guy called Walter. The thing is she’s trying so hard to
live up to everyone’s expectations - as a wife, as a mum, as a neighbour baking
scones for people up and down the street. But eventually the weight of this social
expectation starts to crush her. She’s experiencing problems in her marriage and
with her son whom she has obsessed over - devoted herself to pleasing - and
suddenly the risk of shame is not enough motivation to keep being good. She
gradually starts living out her hidden desires. She slashes the tires on her
neighbours pickup truck. She starts drinking so much she’s hardly functioning. And
eventually she has an affair with her husband’s best friend - Richard Katz. And at
first it seems like she’s finally free - she’s free FROM pretending - but then you
realise she’s not free at all. And - by simply doing what she wants - she consumes
those around her.
Eg. Jack Kerouac
100 years after John Mill wrote “On Liberty” a guy called Jack Kerouac wrote a
book called “On The Road”. And it was a very different kind of book - but it reflected
the same longing for freedom. Kerouac grew up through the Depression and the
two World Wars - and as America begins to settle down into the strict moralism, the
booming consumerism, and the growing secularism of the 1940s - Kerouac reacts
against the white picket fences and heads out on the road. It is the ultimate
expression of individual freedom.
And his book describes his journeys back and forth across the United States over a
period of four years - experimenting with drugs, avoiding commitment, having lots
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of sex, searching for spiritual meaning - and it captured the imagination of
mainstream America.
One writer describes his influence on modern culture like this:
“Unbeknownst to the group their seminal experiments with sexuality, Eastern
religions, drugs, and restless travel would be launched from the margins into the
cultural mainstream over the coming decades. Kerouac labelled his friends the
“Beat Generation”; later the media would dub them “beatniks” after the Sputnik
satellite. The beats would foreshadow the counter culture and hippie movement of
the sixties, which would in turn influence the mainstream in the seventies and
eventually come to define the contemporary consumer, popular culture, and
personal questing in the West.”
But for Jack Kerouac - and for those who have followed him in this modern quest
for freedom - throwing off the old constraints simply brings a new form of tyranny.
For themselves - and even more obviously - for others.
{OPTIONAL}
Even our modern notion of “tolerance” - which is designed to protect the
interests of society from the excessive freedoms of the individual - reflects John
Mill’s “No Harm Principle” - and yet even tolerance ends up enslaving us. For
instead of fostering a society where people are free to passionately believe and
express opposing views - where society benefits from the diversity of different ideas
expressed in compelling but respectful debate - “tolerance” demands the
suppression of different views. And so “tolerance” becomes intolerant of diversity. It
ends up suppressing the interests of both the individual and society!
- We’ve seen some examples of that just this week. On the ABC’s Media Watch
program, the host Paul Barry highlighted the way that “tolerance” is stifling the
Gay Marriage debate. Barry is a supporter of Gay Marriage and yet he
passionately argued that our society has a serious problem when people who are
concerned about Gay Marriage (which has only become widely supported in the
last decade or so) are not able to express those concerns for fear of being
dismissed as bigots.
- Also this week, in the name of “tolerance”, the Department of Education in
Victoria has banned the teaching of Scripture lessons in Victorian State Schools.
Scripture will be allowed to be taught out of normal classroom school hours but
will no longer be included as an option during the normal school week. And one
of the main arguments opponents of Scripture in schools rely on is based on
“tolerance”. They suggest that by separating children into different Scripture and
non-Scripture classes according to the preference of their parents reinforces
division and intolerance. And yet this is a superficial understanding of tolerance
which tries to promote social cohesion by suppressing differences. The reality is
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that after school children will be confronted with people who differ from them
radically in all sorts of ways. And yet a far better kind of “tolerance” would teach
children to respect different views rather than artificially suppressing those
differences.
- Ironically John Stuart Mill wanted against this kind of tyranny - the tyranny of
public opinion which uses shame to suppress different opinions.
So now we see the tension at the heart of the modern approach freedom because it can’t reconcile our deep longing for personal freedom - with our
deep longing for a community life that is rich - for relationships that are
selfless - for a society that flourishes as each person contributes freely and
generously.
We need to find a better freedom story.
Interestingly that’s what Will Hutton calls for at the end of his article on Nick
Kyrgios.
We need a better public space, and philosophy, than this.
And yet his solution is to turn back to the traditional approach - which suppresses
individual freedom for the sake of community. He laments that we need stronger
social bonds so that the possibility of shame constrains excessive individuals
freedom: he says, the - “collapse in a shared culture, along with weakened social
bonds, makes the capacity to shame ever reduced.”
But this traditional approach to freedom - with its reliance on shame - is what our
modern culture is trying to flee. See the reality is that neither traditional culture (with
its shame) or modern culture (with its self sovereignty) - offers a compelling
narrative for individual freedom.
And so here’s the key point - if you’ve got a bit lost in all these words and ideas as
I’ve waffled on here’s the key point:
We need a freedom which does not enslave.
This brings us to our second point.
2. Freedom in Christ (973)
In verse 13 Paul explains the way that true freedom works:
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your
freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves
to one another.
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Now at first glance this sounds like just another kind of tyranny. “Become
slaves to one another” - that sounds terrible. So what is Paul saying?
He’s saying that there is a way of being truly free in which both the individual
and their community can flourish.
See in the traditional approach the community flourishes at expense of
individual
In the modern approach the individual flourishes at expense of community
But in the gospel the individual flourishes when they serve the community.
So what keeps this service - this slavery - from being tyranny? From
enslaving the individual and those around them. It’s because they serve
“through love”.
See this is different from the traditional approach where the individual serves
others out of shame. This is different from the modern approach where the
individual serves themselves. Here the individual serves others “through
love”.
And the reason it sets us free is because humans are made for love.
See the modern approach to freedom assumes that any constraint that is
placed on us does violence to our soul. It assumes that any limit placed on us
undermines our freedom. And yet according to the gospel it is not the
absence of constraint but the right constraint which makes you free to
flourish.
It’s like the illustration we looked at last week.
A fish isn’t free if it’s jumps out of its bowl - it needs water to flourish.
A train isn’t free if it jumps off its track - it needs rails to flourish.
An athlete isn’t free if they for their training - they need the disciple of regular
practice to flourish
And a person isn’t free if they use their freedom for self indulgence - because
they need love to flourish.
Love is our water. Love is our rails. We are made to love and be loved.
Now of course it is possible for service to become a kind of tyranny. I’m sure
every single one of us has found ourselves serving someone out of a sense
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of duty or obligation or guilt or shame - and it weighed us down - we felt
drained - crushed - used - burnt out. Service can become tyranny.
But not when it operates on love. Because love is what we’re made for.
See that’s what Paul says in verse 14?
14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love
your neighbor as yourself."
Love sets us free to serve.
The traditional approach can’t set us free because it operates on shame
The modern approach can’t set us free because it operates on self
indulgence
But the gospel’s approach sets us free because it operates on love - it places
us in the environment - the framework - the constraint - that we’ve been
made for.
But maybe this idea of finding freedom through loving service sounds
impossible.It cuts against the grain of our self sovereignty.
How can you do it?
You can do it because there is one who has done it for you.
The beautiful news of the gospel is that there is one who truly loved his
neighbours as himself. There is one who loved you so much that he made
himself subject to human tyranny - so that he could go to the cross and defeat
the power of sin and death which truly held you prisoner.
See what was it that Jesus said when he first started preaching in the
synagogue? Luke 4:16 16 When Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to
the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,
17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll
and found the place where it was written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has
sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the
blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's
favor."
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What did he say in John 8 - last week?
34 Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is
a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the
household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you
free, you will be free indeed.
And in Mark 10 he says:
45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life
a ransom for many
Jesus came to set you free.
And that means that - if you trust in him - if you freely submit your life to him not only are you free from sin and guilt - but you are also free from shame you are free from the need to try to please other people - free from having to
prove yourself - free from all the things that can turn service into tyranny.
Because Jesus has set you free - you are free to serve our of love.
See in Jesus we find a freedom that isn’t constrained by shame.
A freedom that isn’t expressed in self indulgence.
A freedom that offers so much more than the fights we so often see about
individual rights and tolerance.
In Jesus we find a freedom that speaks to a better picture of being human in
community together. Where people are free to serve - to love - because they
rest secure in his love.
And so - and this is the key point - in Jesus we find a freedom where people
are set free to do what they’ve been made to do - and so we find a freedom
where both the individual and the community can flourish.
And so here’s the paradox of the gospel.
In culture we find these stories of freedom that actually enslave us.
But in relationship with Jesus we find a slavery that actually sets us free.
3. Freedom in conversation (300)
Brings us to our final point. Freedom in conversation.
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Remember that the goal of this whole series is to give us help us identify the
tension in our modern cultural narratives so we can help our friends and colleagues
re-examine their assumptions and beliefs - and perhaps become a little more open
to this better story.
And so what we need to do is look for the point at which our culture’s assumptions
freedom don’t fit with their experience of life.
We want them to feel the tension - Charles Taylor calls it the pressure point - where
the stories they buy into about freedom - that they must throw off all constraints to
be free - don’t actually make them any more free.
And so here’s a key pressure point - the pinch moment - when it comes to modern
approach to freedom.
It’s this tension between the freedom of the individual - and the flourishing of their
community.
And so maybe it comes down to asking questions like this:
• Isn’t it interesting that in a society which has more freedom of choice - more
brands - more information - more lifestyle options - than ever before people seem
to feel less and less free?
• Do you think it’s really possible for an individual to throw off all constraints without
damaging those around them?
• Wouldn’t it be great if there was a kind of freedom that enabled both individuals
and their communities to flourish?
Because if they said yes to a question like that maybe you could tell them about the
one who became a servant to set us free.
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