Celebrate Freedom! by Gene A. Getz
Who can forget the scenes? Iraqi citizens dancing in the
streets. Emboldened men beating on images of Saddam
Hussein with their shoes. Grateful women bringing tea
and biscuits to liberating soldiers along with a few kisses.
Why the joy? In a word-freedom! For about thirty years
the Iraqi people were on the receiving end of a ruthless
dictator who cared only for his own power and wealth.
They lived in fear every day that something they said or
did would be deemed traitorous. Even smiling at a joke
could be met with harsh retaliation - perhaps death.
For many Americans, appreciating our freedom means it
is both worth cherishing and, whenever necessary, worth
fighting for. Great freedom always comes with great
responsibility. Isn't it incredible that this country was
founded and unified by law with a document-The
Constitution of the United States of America-barely ten
pages long?
There is a perfectly sound reason for that brevity. The
Constitution was designed to provide a basic framework
of the guiding principles to govern our country. From this
starting point, great freedom was left to the individual
states to work out the details as time and need
determined. Why the history lesson? Because the wisdom
of our founding fathers has a great spiritual heritage.
Lord Over Lists
At the founding of the church in the first century, there
were few issues as potentially divisive as the freedom
afforded to followers of Christ. No longer were God's
people to live under the Old Covenant (The Law of
Moses) to have a relationship with Him. Christ brought
freedom to the spiritual life like never before. In fact, the
freedom was so great that some could not accept this
truth.
Some in the church today find it equally difficult to
comprehend. So many Christians live under the burden of
"do's and don'ts" never experiencing the joy that our
Liberator came to give us. Some of these
misunderstandings may even divide godly people.
You have probably found yourself on one side or the
other of arguments over a list of "do's" and "don'ts."
Often one side or the other attempts to defend particular
views as "biblical." Almost as often, we find that what
one views as biblical is really just a personal
interpretation of a rather ambiguous passage.
So how do we decide what is right and wrong? One major
distinction that helps in almost every case is by asking
another question: Is the issue at stake something
biblical, cultural or perhaps personal? Let's first look at
each one to be sure we understand the distinctions.
Did God Really Say That?
First, what is a biblical standard? Simply put, it is a
directive or principle that the Bible teaches as absolute
regardless of our culture. I like to call these
"supracultural principles" because they rise above any
one culture. They are truths that apply to anyone living
anywhere at any time. For instance, we know that God
desires holiness.
This is a biblical standard to be upheld by Christians
everywhere. We also know that God expects His
representatives and
leaders to be held to a higher standard of maturity than
those they lead. These are supracultural, biblical
absolutes.
Let's put a hot issue on the table-music. What standard
do we apply for the kind of music we use in church
worship? Is there a biblical standard? Certainly. Paul
wrote to the Ephesians that we are to:
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual
songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,
always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:19,20).
Here Scripture clearly teaches that we should use lyrics
reflecting biblical truth. "Psalms" no doubt refers to the
very "words" of Scripture; "hymns" to the "doctrinal
concepts" of Scripture; "spiritual songs" to lyrics
reflecting personal experiences with God. Is this still
true?
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