{"id":31147,"date":"2022-09-10T15:18:44","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:18:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/is-the-american-church-focused-on-the-right-type-of-freedom\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:18:44","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:18:44","slug":"is-the-american-church-focused-on-the-right-type-of-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/is-the-american-church-focused-on-the-right-type-of-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the American Church Focused on the Right Type of Freedom?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Pixabay photo – Pexels <\/p>\n

By Chris Fogle<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not religious, but wearing a mask is the most Christian, unselfish, outward display someone can do right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

My non-Christian friend\u2019s comment made quite an impact on me. I find it fascinating that people, Christians included, have so many different views on wearing masks.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, this article has very little to do with the pandemic, but everything to do with our attitudes. Masks won\u2019t last forever, but our heart\u2019s attitude will.<\/p>\n

Christians, especially Western Christians, have a deep connection to freedom and a desire to help others. Our problem is when we confuse political freedom with the spiritual freedom Jesus provides.<\/p>\n

Two Sides, Not Two-Faced<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I recently read 1 Corinthians 10:25-33 in which Paul wrote about how it was acceptable to eat meat sacrificed to idols as long as the one eating didn\u2019t get hung up on the idol part.<\/p>\n

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Paul quoted Psalm 24:1 to show the Christian\u2019s freedom. Then, amazingly, he used the same verse to show our limits through responsibility.<\/p>\n

We must ask ourselves if we\u2019ve confused political freedom with spiritual liberty.<\/p>\n

This can apply to mask-wearing, politics, pineapple on pizza, or any other opportunity where we have freedom to partake but also a responsibility to show a liberty of care.<\/p>\n

When we initially read 1 Corinthians 10:25-33, we may miss the connection, since not many Western Christians have to deal with meat being sacrificed to idols.<\/p>\n

For the Corinthian believers, idol meat was taboo, but Paul wasn\u2019t concerned with the meat or even the idols. It was the representation of false gods and therefore the Christian\u2019s testimony in front of non-believers.<\/p>\n

It was about perception. But to understand this, we first need some brief context surrounding Paul\u2019s quote from Psalm 24.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe earth is the LORD\u2019s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.\u201d <\/em>\u2014 Psalm 24:1<\/p>\n

On the surface, Paul used David\u2019s psalm because Hebrews prayed this verse at meals, and Paul was saying it could be prayed over idol sacrifices too.<\/p>\n

But the reason it was used as a mealtime blessing in the first place helps us peel back the layers.<\/p>\n

Acknowledging that everything on the earth is from God humbles and guides us toward gratitude for our freedom.<\/p>\n

After all, Peter was shown how every created thing was good because it was made by the good Creator (Acts 10:9-16).<\/p>\n

The layers go even deeper as we realize the one true God has ownership, protection, and provision over the world and the people He created.<\/p>\n

Knowing those layers shows us Paul\u2019s exhortation is to enjoy and rest in God\u2019s freedom. And that freedom is a testimony to others.<\/p>\n

Paul assumed Christians would be eating at non-believers\u2019 houses in an Eastern culture of fellowship amid restriction.<\/p>\n

Our Western sensibilities gravitate toward freedom and independence, so Christians have no problem accepting that we have liberty in eating whatever we want or defending our opinions.<\/p>\n

For example, I have the freedom to vote for whomever I want. In fact, I have the freedom to not vote at all.<\/p>\n

But some of us have confused opposition to our opinion on a candidate or the right to vote as heresy.<\/p>\n

We know to submit to the government as long as it doesn\u2019t contradict God (Romans 13), but we behave as if the Scriptures say, \u201c\u2026 as long as it doesn\u2019t contradict me<\/em> or my favorite politician<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like all freedom matters, politics can be a divisive point. The imbalance is when we allow our Western idea of rights to override the truth of God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n

Paul knew we would gravitate toward our \u201cpersonal rights,\u201d and that\u2019s why he gave the other side of the Psalm 24:1 coin.<\/p>\n

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In 1 Corinthians 10:28 Paul said if anyone, our non-Christian host, other guests, even other believers, go out of their way to tell us the meat was sacrificed to idols, we are to abstain.<\/p>\n

And that abstaining is rooted in Christ\u2019s love, which acts as if others are more important than our \u201cme-centric\u201d worldview.<\/p>\n

As believers\u2014and certainly at ministry leaders\u2014we should show respect to those who hold different views. In today\u2019s context, modern food sacrificed to idols might, for example, look like getting bated into a Facebook rant.<\/p>\n

In this case \u201cbearing fruit\u201d could mean that we determine to not bash others on social media or not publicly supporting a politician or party at the expense of church unity.<\/p>\n

Satan uses these freedoms, and the perception of them, to divide.<\/p>\n

Paul instructed to abstain if something offends someone else (Romans 14:1-15:6). Knowing we could get defensive, Paul asked, \u201cWhy is my freedom being judged by another\u2019s conscience?\u201d (1 Corinthians 10:29).<\/p>\n

The answer again lies in Psalm 24:1.<\/p>\n

The fact that \u201cThe earth is the LORD\u2019s,\u201d means the earth and its blessings are not from a false god, or idols, or anything but the one true God.<\/p>\n

And if the creation reflects the Creator, then we human creations, as reflecting image-bearers, must point toward Him, the one true God (v. 31).<\/p>\n

That often means taking a stand when truth is confronted. But that stand is not hateful, self-righteous protesting. On the contrary, any stand we take should be rooted in the love of Christ.<\/p>\n

Provoke an Assault on Our Freedom and Our Way of Life<\/strong><\/h3>\n

My non-Christian friend\u2019s mask comment was his heart\u2019s attitude of the \u201clove others as you love yourself\u201d talk he had heard (Galatians 5:13-18).<\/p>\n

Since masks don\u2019t protect us<\/em> as much as they protect others<\/em> in case we\u2019re asymptomatic, I had to consider his perspective.<\/p>\n

If we want to be witnesses to those with a perception like my friend, we should practice the freedom of restraint.<\/p>\n

One of the ways we can love like Jesus is to submit to the costs of restraints. Loving others is easy when it takes a moment\u2014like feeding the needy or donating to charity.<\/p>\n

But the deeper cost is around inconvenience, a cost in time or resources\u2014and often that is in building relationships.<\/p>\n

If our goal is attention or virtue signaling on social media, we must reject the hypocrisy (Matthew 6:1-4). Only Christ\u2019s supernatural power can work situational awareness and empathy into a godly heart\u2019s attitude.<\/p>\n

So, when we inevitably offend someone, is it because of our self-importance, an irrelevant freedom, or rightly representing the one good Creator?<\/p>\n

The Lord\u2019s freedom is for our enjoyment, but that same freedom is a liberty of care that restrains us to love others.<\/p>\n

Recently a pastor told me, \u201cI don\u2019t like wearing masks, but if it means one person comes to Jesus, I\u2019ll happily wear one.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s our freedom, that\u2019s our right, that\u2019s our liberty of restraint. Can we put aside our personal rights long enough to take a stand and love others in the name of Jesus?<\/p>\n

CHRIS FOGLE (@TheChrisFogle)<\/strong> is an assistant pastor at House of Grace Church in Southern California, works full time in manufacturing procurement, and writes part time. He’s passionate about believers maturing and seekers finding Jesus.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Pixabay photo – Pexels By Chris Fogle \u201cI\u2019m not religious, but wearing a mask is the most Christian, unselfish, outward display someone can do right now.\u201d My non-Christian friend\u2019s comment made quite an impact on me. I find it fascinating that people, Christians included, have so many different views on wearing masks. Fortunately, this article … Continue reading “Is the American Church Focused on the Right Type of Freedom?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31147\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}