What is … Freedom? 

Over the last six weeks we have been tackling some ideas that are often contested within the marketplace of ideas within our culture. The idea for this little series is freedom. 

Freedom is a term that on the surface, we all love. How could we not. Isn’t more freedom always better than less freedom? And anyone that is fighting for freedom, must always be working for the good, right?  

Well, maybe.  

Freedom is regularly defined as the absence of constraints. In our current cultural moment when we hear ‘freedom’, we also are thinking autonomy. Autonomy is the ability for a person to make their own decisions. So, freedom in our context is the ability to make decisions without constraints, we can be a law to ourselves, and we can set our own limits. Or as the Rolling Stones put it “I’m free to do what I want, any old time.” This kind of freedom that we regularly hear about is a freedom absent of consequence.  

However, freedom always has consequences, and freedom can often lead to entrapment if not thought through carefully. Think of a train sitting in the middle of a paddock, it is off the tracks and by definition, it is free of constraint. Yet, it is stuck and unable to move, trapped in its own freedom. It is the constraints of the tracks that allow it to move.  

Another common outworking of freedom in our culture is choice. The more choice the more freedom. A study was done with the choices of jam, and it found that an increased choice of jam led to increased anxiety and ultimately less jam being bought. Limitless choice is a trap and increasing choice is not the way to wellbeing.  

So then, how should we think about freedom? The short answer is carefully. Freedom always has consequences, and freedom is about finding the right kinds of constraints because no matter which freedom we choose there are always constraints and always consequences. Freedom for its own sake needs more.  

In the Bible freedom is framed in two ways. There is freedom from and there is freedom for. In Hebrews 5:1 it says, “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  This passage is reminding us that it was for freedom that Jesus lived, died and rose again. He did these things so we can have freedom from sin, freedom from our own guilt and shame. Jesus did these things so we can have freedom for relationship with God our Creator, freedom for life in the spirit that leads to love of a neighbour and lives marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Hebrews 5:22)  

Here at Green Point Christian College we seek to help students be equipped for life now, and for eternity. This includes helping them understand that there is true freedom in following Jesus. That this freedom does come with constraints, but as Jesus Himself says, His yoke is easy, and his burden is light. And that in submitting to those constraints we find our true purpose, just like a train constrained by its tracks.  

Joel van Bentum