Liberty or License
Last week we celebrated our nation’s 246th birthday, and like many of you, I celebrated July 4th with joy and thanksgiving. If I had to sum up America in one word, that word would be liberty. Yes, I’m proud to be a citizen in the “Sweet Land of Liberty.”
But at the risk of sounding unpatriotic, let me express a concern I have about American liberty. Sometimes, I fear we Americans have a difficult time differentiating between liberty and license. Let me explain.
Both liberty and license grant freedom. Liberty grants freedom, but not the freedom to do whatever we want. Liberty only functions well when restraints are imposed upon one’s freedom, restraints that protect and preserve the common good.
License, on the other hand, gives tacit permission to do whatever one chooses, regardless of how that choice affects others. License is self-centered. It’s all about me and my rights. Liberty is others-centered. It’s all about us and our life together. Simply put, liberty demands restraint. License does not.
In 1 Peter 2:16-17 the Apostle Peter gives us directions for living out our liberty. He writes: Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.
Some of Peter’s words seem ill-fitted. He tells Christians to “live as free people,” but then turns around and tells them, “to live as God’s slaves.” Is Peter contradicting himself? He is not. Instead, Peter is telling Christians to exercise their freedom within the restrictions of their faith; to live, not for self, but for the gospel; to set aside freedom for faith and liberty for love. Are we free, as Americans, to express ourselves in ways that might make us objectionable to our fellow citizens? Yes, as American citizens we have that freedom, but as citizens in the Kingdom of God our freedom is always restricted by our faith and our liberty always subservient to our love.
In her essay, “Responsible Freedom,” Daphne Hidalgo tells of a conversation between two Pilipino children, Yaw and Mog.
Yaw observes, “Freedom must be a very difficult word to define.”
“Freedom is easily misunderstood,” replies Mog. “There are limits to freedom and there are responsibilities that come with freedom. You are free to smoke, but not in my face. You are free to eat, but not from my plate. You are free to be happy, but not at my expense.”
Slowly, the light of understanding dawned on Yaw’s young mind. “Oh, now I understand.” Yaw replied. “Freedom does not mean you can do anything you want. You have to know what you can and cannot do to live with freedom.”
Unfortunately, some Americans have difficulty understanding how to live within the restraints of healthy freedom. Instead, they live as though freedom was license, a license to do whatever they want. If they want to crank up their loud music, they couldn’t care less who it might disturb. If they want to dawn a bumper sticker that is vulgar and crude, they couldn’t care less who it might offend. If they want to make political statements that are rude and derogatory, they don’t think twice about civility and respect. Even as a nation, we sometimes consume more than our fair share of this world’s natural resources without considering how our selfishness might impact the rest of the world.
But Christ’s followers must be different. We must be led by Christ’s great command when he told us to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” We must live as free people while serving as God’s slaves. We must be willing to set aside our freedom so others might know our faith; and to limit our liberty so others might experience Christ’s love. Freedom must not be about us and our rights. Freedom must be about others, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Perhaps, Meagan McDonough said it best in her thoughtful words on freedom. She writes, “Restraint is the wind under the wings of our freedom, helping us to fly with purpose instead of being blown about by every ill wind.”
Liberty, not license, is my prayer for America. Freedom restrained is freedom reclaimed with liberty and justice for all.
