The verse of the day for July 4th in the U.S. was Galatians 5.13. Low hanging fruit, don’t you think?
“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”
Definitely good fruit, low hanging or not.
While Paul was most certainly not thinking about the U.S.A.’s Declaration of Independence when he wrote that, we do value and enjoy a hearty measure of freedom in my home country. Maybe our political freedom is a cousin of the freedom we enjoy in Christ.
If so, let me say I’m happy to be an American, to have the freedom to follow my conscience. I’m likewise happy to be a Christian: To know I can eat bacon and I don’t have to offer a sheep to a priest to pay for last week’s sins.
But what does Paul mean when he goes on to say, “Don’t use your freedom to indulge the flesh?” Well, for me, for starters, “Don’t eat all the bacon. Don’t watch all the movies. And don’t act like those who disagree with me are evil, malevolent and hell-bent on destroying all things holy and me.”
They’re not, you know.
People who disagree with us about Muslims (or disagree with me about a lot of other stuff) are mostly doing their best, following their understanding, trying to do the right thing. I indulge my flesh when I nurture the deadly duo feelings of personal attack and superiority to those who think differently from me, both believers and not.
If I’m going to serve them humbly in love, those feelings are going to have to die. Free and dead. It’s the only way to live.