Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson dated 11.12.11
Wait … what? That just sounds wrong, doesn’t it? Aren’t we supposed to be free enough to do whatever we want…and now we’re supposed to believe that the way to find true freedom is to submit to being restrained?
Elton Trueblood in an article called “The New Man for Our Time” that was published in Christianity Today says it this way:
“We have not advanced very far in our spiritual lives if we have not encountered the basic paradox of freedom, to the effect that we are most free when we are bound.”[1]
Jesus said something very similar:
“‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’” Matthew 11:28-30
How do you think that works? I have a theory. I think that even though we think we want to be free of all restraining rules and regulation, that’s not what we really want. I can remember, before I had children, that playpens were terrible things. They were baby cages, in my very young mind. Then I had children and quickly realized that some relatively simple boundaries freed both my baby and me. The baby was free to entertain himself without getting into dangerous territory and I was free to do what I needed to do.
At about the same time, I heard a psychologist explain one of the paradoxes of childhood: children spend a substantial amount of time pushing the boundaries placed around them by their parents, teachers, and any other adults in their lives, but what they’re really doing is making sure that the boundaries are there and secure. A child with no rules is an unhappy child.
Picture a long hallway with lots of doors on either side. All the doors are closed and locked. Running down the hallway is a child who tries to open every door; he (or she) tries to turn all the doorknobs, wiggles all the doors, knocks and bangs on them. To someone watching it looks like the child is trying to break out, but in reality, he’s making sure that he can’t.
Does that make sense? Satan makes us think that what we really want is total and complete freedom to behave in any way we want to, but that’s not what we want at all.
“In The Mennonite Brethren Herald (2-19-99), Jim Holm writes: ‘When I was in third grade, I was condemned to live under a law—the law of near-sightedness. My eyes went bad, and today I am considered legally blind.
“‘I am not free. I am in bondage to this law. Do I like it? No, I hate it. But it doesn't matter. There is no escape.
“‘But one day I discovered there was an even greater law that can overcome the law of near-sightedness. It is called the law of corrective lenses, or the law of glasses. I discovered that when I submitted myself to the law of corrective lenses, the law of near-sightedness was overcome. Did it go away? No, it is still there. But it was overpowered by a greater law, which enabled me to see.
“‘Now here is the ironic thing: When I submit to the law of glasses, I become free. That's crazy. You would think if I want to be free, I should throw the glasses away. But I've been there, done that. I know what that is like. That is not freedom. Only by submitting to the law of glasses do I become free.’”[2]
If you’ve ever had to wear glasses or contacts, you can identify with Mr. Holm. We sometimes feel irritated by always having to wear glasses or contacts, but if you’ve ever had to go without them for more than a few minutes, you quickly realize how much more freedom you have when you wear them.
Here’s a more dramatic illustration from Colin Campbell:
“Freedom does not mean the absence of constraints or moral absolutes. Suppose a skydiver at 10,000 feet announces to the rest of the group, ‘I'm not using a parachute this time. I want freedom!’
“The fact is that a skydiver is constrained by a greater law--the law of gravity. But when the skydiver chooses the ‘constraint’ of the parachute, she is free to enjoy the exhilaration.
“God's moral laws act the same way: they restrain, but they are absolutely necessary to enjoy the exhilaration of real freedom.”[3]
You know, that sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Can you imagine someone even considering jumping out of an airplane without a parachute…on purpose? That’s suicidal! And yet, we kick and strain against God’s Law as though it were not saving us from the pain and grief that sin brings.
Mr. Trueblood from our first quote has more to say on this subject:
“But not just any way of being bound will suffice; what matters is the character of our binding.
“The one who would like to be an athlete, but who is unwilling to discipline his body by regular exercise and by abstinence, is not free to excel on the field or the tracks. His failure to train rigorously and to live abstemiously denies him the freedom to go over the bar at the desired height, or to run with the desired speed and endurance.
“With one concerted voice the giants of the devotional life apply the same principle for the whole of life with the dictum: Discipline is the price of freedom.”[4]
Real freedom is learning how to be ruled by the law of heaven. James, who by the way calls himself a servant (someone bound) of God, tells us that
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17
The Law, in spite of what the vast majority of the world says, is a “good and perfect gift” from our Heavenly Father who loves us beyond anything we can understand. God’s Law is our playpen…it’s not keeping us in so much as it’s keeping us safe from the lies and tricks of the enemy.
“The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the LORD are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.” Psalm 19: 7-10
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