How does Christian freedom at a personal level relate to freedom at a political level? Or to put the question another way, is concerning myself with what it means to be free at a personal level a form of escapism, which ignores the problems of the world? When so many Christians face persecution on a daily basis, when the world is lurching from crisis to crisis, is it justifiable to be concerned about what it means to be free at an individual level?
Sometimes it does seem that such concerns are selfish and introspective. Does it really matter how my freedom in Christ affects my intimate relationships with my relatives and friends? Shouldn't I be more concerned with evangelism, or fighting against poverty or global warming? Is the minute attention to personal details found in various forms of prayer ministry really justifiable and worthwhile?
People in the past seemed to just get on with life, without much introspection or self-analysis. Jesus didn't spend time discussing the disciples' childhood griefs with them. It seems he didn't ask many questions at all before casting out demons from people.
It has been interesting to read Luther's "Liberty of the Christian". The liberty he talks about wasn't something he came up with by cool and rational philosophical thought. He struggled with the issue at a very personal level even as he dealt with it academically. He wasn't using conjecture when he described the amazing relief of discovering the freedom that Christ has won for us.
He has been accused recently of leading the western world into it's love of introspection. Yet at the same time, his response to discovering his freedom in Christ was hardly confined to personal relief. It gave him the courage to stand against the whole edifice of the Catholic church, at times to face the threat of death. His personal conviction of liberty gave him a very public ministry and mission. Could he have done what he did without that conviction of what freedom in Christ really meant to him personally? Somehow I doubt it.
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