Can we be free?
Published by Matt Glover October 26th, 2006 in Romans: Living the Christian LifeI don’t know that we ever consider ourselves to be slaves.
In a land where freedom of choice, freedom of speech and freedom of expression are seen as a personal right, slavery doesn’t even register on the radar.
But in our journey through Romans on Sunday night, we realised that we live in a world that IS enslaved. We are in a world that is held captive by sin.
Sin, like slavery, doesn’t get much of o gurnsey in our society. If truth is relative then sin is abolished, for what is right for me is not necessarily right for you. If neither is right for God then, well, bad luck!
However in Romans 6, Paul describes life without God as being enslaved by sin. Interestingly, he doesn’t say that life with God suddenly brings freedom but instead we become enslaved by righteousness - suddenly we are slaves to the way life was meant to be lived in the first place.
This is all well and good, and I encourage you to read the entire chapter yourself at some stage. But the nagging question that was left with me when I was preparing this message was, “If I am a slave to righteousness, how come I feel like I am still a slave to sin?”.
I know that Jesus died and rose, giving us the opportunity to live in a way that brought meaning and purpose. This new life connected us with our creator, bringing reconciliation with God and a peace that passes all understanding. I’ve put my hand up to be part of that life, but why does life still seem to be bogged down by all that stuff I know God doesn’t want me to do?!
I told a story that illustrated this frustration. In a nutshell, it was about a uni student hooked on gambling on the horses. He became friends with some Christians and became one himself, but still struggled with his gambling. In fact, after his decisions to become a Christian, the struggle with gambling seemed to be even harder than it was before. The only thing that helped him was this - community.
When his mates realised the extent of his trouble, they took it upon themselves to help him beat his addiction. This often meant massive inconvenience and sometimes a bit of money, but in the end, it was this expression of community that helped get him through.
Become free from sin is not a single battle that is fought and won. It is a lifetime of battles that are marked by small victories - and lots of small victories, over time, add up to freedom and open the way to live a life driven by righteousness.
There is simply no way that a Christian can win these small victories on their own. It takes community.
Sure, you might win one or two here or there. But you know as well as I the struggle it is to change ingrained habits. Left up to ourselves, we would get nowhere.
Next week we will talk more about this when we look at Romans 7, but we finished last Sunday night by sharing communion together and praying for each other in small groups about the things that we need help with to beat. It was confronting to some extent, but also liberating - burdens shared are lighter. You don’t experience this anywhere other than in community.
Perhaps the best thing though is that God is part of the Christian community too.
The God who creates, forgives and remakes is right there in our midst.
That was obvious as I looked out and watched people pray for each other.
My prayer is that it is always like this.
Im liking this series Matt. I really appreciate being able to read what y’all do each week. Can’t wait for some fresh podcasts to listen to, as well.
I dont see why you cant experience prayer like that every week, or at least more often. Prayer is SO powerful and SO important (although I’m more of a fan of personal prayer than in-groups out-loud prayer).
But finding strength in community is usually the only way to overcome the worst of sin, both inward and outward reflections of it. What other ways can you think of to continue the growth of an open & trusting community where all this CAN be shared?
There’s a thing called ‘communitas’, which is like an extreme experience of community. It’s usually short lived, but bonds a group in a way that seems to last forever, even though they may not live in the same geographic location.
What you experience at coffee shop is something like communitas. People that have survived very traumatic events as a group experience it most profoundly. Some of the tribal initiation rites of diffeent groups around the world draw heavily on communitas. The early church certaily experienced it.
So for community to keep growing, I think we need have the occasional communiats experience. Whether it be a camp, mission trip, hike or whatever doesn’t matter. But as long as it makes a bit uncomfortable and forces us to rely on each other, then we’re heading in the right direction.