Christian “Freedom” in a Pandemic

I am intrigued at how the word “freedom” is being used by those opposing NZ government regulations concerning Covid-19. The word is being thrown around all over the place with people considering it is a violation of their freedom to have the government bring in Covid vaccination certificates for certain vocations, for travel, and for entry into a range of venues. I thought it would be good to consider this from a biblical point of view to show that the word is being utterly misused and abused when we consider what Christian freedom really is. I will show that the freedom we have has nothing to do with governments, our own wants, and desires, but is all about serving one another in love.

The New Testament is clear in its theology—those who sincerely believe in Jesus are free in Christ. So, Paul says in Galatians 5:1, “for freedom, Christ has set us free.” John writes, “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32), “If the Son (Jesus) sets you free, you are free indeed” (John 8:36). What is this freedom? Well, it is not a freedom to do what we want, when we want, in whatever way we want. It is not anything to do with a government allowing us this or that freedom—to do what we like, when we like, with whom we like, and in whatever way we like. It is not the freedom to protest. It is nothing to do with the freedom not to have a vaccine, or to have a vaccine. These are all more like the kinds of ways Romans defined freedom, and the way the word is used today by people outside of the Christian faith (or people within who totally misunderstand the idea).

It is, in fact, a corruption of the gospel found in Corinth. In Corinth, they had a slogan which Paul quotes twice, “everything is lawful (or permissible)” (1 Cor 6:12; 10:23). In other words, do what you like. The Corinthians felt that now that they were Christians and God’s children, they were set free to do what they wanted when they wanted. They could engage in sexual immorality (1 Cor 6), they could attend idolatrous pagan feasts and participate at their leisure (1 Cor 10). Paul repudiates this arguing that they misunderstand Christianity and summoning them to the “most excellent way”—the way of love (1 Cor 13).

So then, what is Christian freedom?

Freedom involves being liberated from some kind of bondage. In the Roman world, it was most commonly used in terms of emancipation from slavery (one was born a slave if one’s parents were slaves, slaves were everywhere, and gaining freedom was an aspirational goal for most). So, when Paul uses it, he has slavery in mind.

The slavery he is referring to is not enslavement to government regulations or the limitation of freedoms by a government! The government at the time of the writing of the New Testament was the Roman Caesars—emperors who ruled with an iron fist. None of our western governments are remotely like them! Citizens had more freedoms. Slaves had few. Yet, there is nothing about freedom from Caesar in the NT. Rather, people lived within God’s kingdom under his reign and were encouraged to submit to the Caesars (Rom 13; Tit 3:1). The only exceptions would be extreme situations like that envisaged in Revelation 13 where people would defy the government. And to be fair, and this Covid situation is nothing like that. The vaccine is NOT the mark of the beast! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_MK-1exVWI&t=6s) The western governments are not the beast of Revelation 13, that is fanciful.

What the NT has in mind is freedom from being in bondage the Jewish law, sin, and its consequences. Where the Jewish law is concerned, new gentile (non-Jewish) converts did not have to adhere to circumcision and the other Jewish laws (especially those things that demark a Jew from a gentile, like Sabbath observance and Kosher food, see Galatians and Acts 15).

More importantly, Christian freedom is liberation from bondage to sin, the desires of the flesh, and the eternal consequences of sin (eternal destruction). This is possible because Jesus has stood in their place, taken the consequences for sin on a cross in his atoning death, and believers are now children of God. They are no longer slaves. God’s Spirit is in them. They are free from guilt and self-condemnation and from shame. They will still be prone to sin, but they are assured of God’s forgiveness because they believe in the one who died for them. So, a Christian is free in the sense that they are free from sin and its eternal consequences.

How are they to exercise that freedom? This is where some Christians are going wrong at the moment. Believers are not free to do what they want, to expect eternal wealth in the present if they are obedient, to never get sick, to be free not to take a vaccine, to be free to travel, go to restaurants, to protest, to keep their job if they are unvaccinated, or anything like this. Rather, they are free to step into what God created them to be as his image bearers (Gen 1:26–27), with their specific vocational callings in God.

And towering over all such personal vocations is the common call for all Christians to live out their freedom, and it is exquisitely described by Paul in Galatians 5:13.

Remember that Galatians 5 begins with the aforementioned declaration that Christians are “free” (Gal 5:1). So, what are they to do with that freedom from the Jewish law, sin, and its consequences? Here is Galatians 5:13–14:

13 For you are called to freedom, brothers, and sisters. Only, do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but rather, through love, serve one another! 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one sentence (literally, word): “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (italics mine).

So, we are free, and our freedom is to step into the character of God and of his Son who came to us—love and service of others. Jesus showed us what freedom looks like. Jesus is the “freest creature” in the universe. He is God’s Son, creator, sustainer of the universe, he can do what he likes, for he is God the Son. It is his world and he is the Free One! He had/has the freedom to turn up on earth at any time and demand our allegiance, after all, he is our creator. He could blow the world up in a moment if he chose. He can do what he likes, for He Is Freedom!

Yet what did he do? He came to earth in a totally different way, renouncing all ideas of demanding our allegiance through rapacious force, even though he has equality with God the Father as his Son. He did not attack governments, protest the Romans, demand his own way. Rather, he emptied himself, pouring himself out in service to the world. He died to save all people from rulers to paupers. He washed dirty feet. He was friends with the sinners of the world, pronounced forgiveness over them, touched the untouchable, healed them, and fed them. He served them! He is the Servant Isaiah pictured in his great servant songs found in Isaiah chs. 40, 49, 50, and 52–53.

And supremely, rather than assert his rights to do as he wanted to dominate others into submission (which he easily could have), he allowed humankind to kill him, and in so doing, became the one, unblemished by sin, who fulfilled Israel’s sacrifice system as the once-for-all final sacrifice for sins. He, the Free One, gave up his freedoms to save a world.

In so doing, he showed us the character of God—giving up personal freedoms, wants, and desires—living service and self-giving. Indeed, we see God the Father’s Servant Ontology by his preparedness to send his one and only son to die for the world, to save it. He gave up his Son for us, when he was free not to do so. He did it because he loves us and did it as a demonstration of that love. Although free not to do this, he freely gave up his son and freely offers us all salvation in him.

When the Free Son Jesus came, he showed us what we were created to be—those who serve others in love. He served to the point of death; and not any death, but the most humiliating death known for a Roman, used for slaves and criminals—the public humiliation of torture and crucifixion. He hung naked on a cross, showing how far he was prepared to go to become the vaccine for sin in a “sindemic” world.

And as if that is not enough, after rising from the dead, he ascended to his rightful place as the Free One, and now without ceasing, Jesus prays for us to stand strong in our faith (Rom 8:34). Yet, wait, there is more. Now, through the Son, God the Father sends his Spirit into the inner beings of believers and the Spirit serves them from within. He gently and patiently transforms us to be more and more like Jesus (Rom 8:29). He changes us from selfish people, who feel what matters most is our own freedoms and wants, and not the freedom of others, to be like the Free One who came and gave himself in the service of the world.

So, our freedom is the freedom to be what we are created to be—those who are shaped by and who emit God’s love to others. Galatians 5:19–25 then further defines this freedom. It does not include us doing what we want when we want with whom we want as we want, that is living by the flesh from which we have been set free (Gal 5:19–21). Instead, we are to be charactised by the fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (or humility), and self-control. We can add innumerable more things which can be summed up with us living to serve others so that they may flourish in this life, and hopefully, eternal life!

By the way, John agrees with this. He who wrote, “if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed” in John 8 goes on to declare that believers are to live by the new commandment, “that you love one another.” Indeed, the thing that demonstrates to the world that we are God’s children is our “love for one another!” (John 13:34–35). This is because, as he says elsewhere, God is love, and we love because he first loved us (1 John 4:8, 18). And the great chapter, John 13, includes in it one of the greatest demonstrations of what we are created to be as Jesus, the king of the universe, did the work of a slave girl in that time—he washed the gnarled, dirty feet of his disciples. He then summoned them to do the same (John 13:15). Interestingly, one of those whose feet he washed was Judas, who after the meal that followed, went out and betrayed him. Jesus knew this was going to happen (John 6:70–71), and yet he washed his feet. He ate with him, showing hospitality to his enemies. Then Judas betrayed him to death. This love we are to embody is love even for our enemies (Matt 5:44; Luke 6:35).

So, if we see a so-called Christian demanding their freedoms from the government and vaccines, know that this has nothing to do with biblical freedom. This is them exercising their own desires. One might argue that it is more an expression of the fleshly living they have supposedly been saved from.

On a personal note, I would add that the ideas in this blog are what led me to go and get vaccinated as quickly as I could. While initially, I had some concerns about a vaccine that seems so quickly being used, these were speedily assuaged as I read around the medical and scientific data I could get my hands on and understand. It quickly became blindingly obvious that the best way for me to live out my freedom to love and serve others in emulation of Christ was to get vaccinated asap.

Of course, there was some risk in doing so, however, getting vaccinated meant that I would be far less likely to become seriously ill with the virus, clog up the hospital on a ventilator, and be contagious to the many vulnerable people around me. As such, love compelled me to get vaccinated. I knew there was a risk, vaccinations always carry risk. But what was glaringly obvious from multiple news sources was that the virus is way more dangerous than the vaccine. Now, nearly 8 billion jabs have been given, and while there are some adverse reactions, the vaccine is clearly way preferable to the virus. Hence, as one who loves Jesus, who gave up his freedoms to save me, and who showed me that true humanity is serving one another in love, I got the vaccine. If it had killed me that would be a small price to pay to save others. I did so willingly and joyfully, seeing it as a right denial of self, a small cross to take up, so that others may have life.

There is another aspect to this some forget. While I have freedoms, so has everyone around me. I am free to not take the vaccine. No one has told me I must take it. Yet, if I say no to the vaccine, the people of NZ and its government also have freedoms they can exercise in light of my decision. Their freedom to be concerned for their own health and those they love or who are under their care not surprisingly will lead them to constrain me and others who choose not to get vaccinated. That is their right, just as it is my right to get vaccinated or not. Freedoms cut in different and multiple ways. It is not just about me. There is individual freedom for me, there is the freedom of the other millions of Kiwis around me, and the freedom of a government elected to govern (and the freedoms of the rest of the world).

Put another way, there are both freedoms and consequences. There are rights and responsibilities to others. No one has to get vaccinated, it is not forced nor mandated. That is our choice. Yet, as with all choices, there will be consequences. In the case of the vaccine, aside from those who cannot take the vaccine for medical reasons (and they should get exemptions, and children at this point), not taking it will lead to the consequence of being marginalized for the good of others. And rightly so with the current data, for we have to limit the spread of the virus to ensure people’s health, the hospital system is sustainable, and to kill off the virus as it can no longer replicate. If we do get vaccinated, that too will have consequences. It will mean I can move freely among others who now feel safe.

So, in summary. Christian freedom is not a freedom from tyrannical governments (as if this one is really tyrannical), freedom to do what I like when I like (that is Corinthian false freedom), or freedom to protest, and so on. it is a freedom to serve one another in love.

I suggest the best way to do that is to be vaccinated. If, however, a Christian does not, and that is their prerogative, then that person should live freely, accepting the consequences. They should recognise the rights and freedoms of others to respond for the safety of those they love. As for us, where we differ on these matters, we who are vaccinated and we who are unvaccinated, must continue to serve and love one another across the differences. Shalom.