Accepting Our Freedom

A couple of days ago Annie and I got a new puppy. Because Sammy is still a ways away from learning bladder control he spends the time we can't watch him in our mudroom. Since the mudroom has a pair of doors shutting it off from the rest of the house and tile floor, it works well for keeping him out of trouble and making his messes easy to clean up.

Tonight Sammy was not too happy about being shut up. He was barking and jumping against the doors. After a while he calmed down and I went to let him out. He was still sitting in front of one of the doors and as I opened it he got caught between it and the wall. Oblivious to the fact that all he had to do to be free was walk backwards two steps and go to the other side of the door, he began once again to yelp and jump against the door as though I hadn't opened it yet. It wasn't until I picked him up and rescued him that he really experienced the freedom I'd already given to him.

And that's exactly how we so often handle the freedom Christ has given us.

It's a trap that's been around since the cross. We want to earn our salvation, not receive it as a free gift. We spend the first part of our lives giving in to sin until we find ourselves trapped in a deep, dark prison. When we receive Christ, both for salvation and each time we ask for forgiveness, the doors to that prison are smashed open. But for some reason, we often feel compelled to stay. We hide in our shame and guilt, in the knowledge of just how big a mess we've made. We forget that our heart of stone has been replaced by a heart of flesh. Staying stuck in our sin through legalism and shame seems like the right way, the proper way, to atone for what we've done. As if Christ's death and resurrection aren't enough.

Looking at my own life and the times I've fallen into this trap, I find myself asking why this happens. The first answer that comes to mind is that the other way, simply accepting the freedom Christ has given us, seems too easy. But the more I think about the more I realize that's not it all. The gift of salvation is free but there is a cost to following Christ. He promised this. If we've chosen to follow Him we've entered into the relationship with our eyes open to all that could happen. At a minimum, almost every Christian has experienced mockery for his faith. Many are martyred. And that's only the physical side. When we accept Christ we take a side in a spiritual battle that has gone on longer than this Earth has existed. The gift may be free but following Christ cannot be said to be too easy.

I believe the real reason for denying our freedom is that staying in that prison cell, stuck in our sin, seems easier. We want to blend in with the world. Christ calls us to be set apart from it. We want to be in control of our salvation. Christ calls us to give up our compulsion for control and surrender our will to Him. We want to be able to arrange our lives as we see fit. Christ promises us a life of abundance but requires our trust to get us there through the darkness. We don't want to give our time to prayer, relationship and fighting the enemy. Christ issues the call to arm ourselves and prepare for battle.

I think on one level we know that staying stuck in prison isn't better, couldn't possibly be better. But it is easier. The lie of the enemy is this: easier is enough. Life is too hard already. You do not need this extra challenge of fighting day and night for your heart and against the powers of darkness.

But here's the awesome part of all this. God's grace extends even here. So often I find myself painfully aware of my unwillingness to come out of the prison. It is then that I must call on God, ask Him to change my heart and bring me to the fullness of my freedom. And just as I was willing to step over to the other side of the door to rescue Sammy, so God is willing to come to us when we find ourselves stuck in this way.

God accepts this about us. As C.S. Lewis reminds us in Mere Christianity, "Only a bad person needs to repent: only a good person can repent perfectly. The worse you are the more you need it and the less you can do it. The only person who could do it perfectly would be a perfect person - and he would not need it."

God has accepted our humanity and we should too. He has recognized that we will, in this life, always be imperfect. But He is patient and He is faithful to transform us.

Freedom is a good thing but it's also a hard thing. Even after Christ has broken through to our prison it is hard to accept the invitation to go further up and further in with Him. But it's worth it and He is faithful to help us as we struggle every day to leave our prison, our sin, our guilt, and our shame behind and follow Him instead.