Living in the Spirit
June 23, 2022
Scripture Reading: Galatians 5:1, 13-25
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. –Galatians 5:1, 13-15
I saw a post on social media the other day that said something to the effect that freedom is not permission to do whatever you want. It frees you to do what is right. I wondered if that observation was based on the above scripture.
I am already sick of the political ads both those sponsored by the candidate and the horrible ones that are sponsored by craftily named organizations that do not reveal who is paying for them or what their ulterior motive is. The USA was, indeed, founded on the principle of governance of the people, by the people, and for the people. It was established with checks and balances to help guarantee that we do what is right. Those checks and balances do not always work, but we the people are the final source of protecting our freedom to do what is right not what is expedient for the wealthy and powerful. Here are some rules I follow during these seasons of political ads:
- If a group does not identify its financial source, not just the patriotic name of the group but the names of those sending the checks, I ignore them.
- Incumbents can run on their record; you may want to check it out to see if you share their stances. Go to https://www.congress.gov/ to view federal incumbents’ voting records and see what they support and what they do not. For state incumbents see http://www.oklegislature.gov/AdvancedSearchForm.aspx.
- Non-incumbents often have a webpage where they outline their legislative priorities.
- Do your homework. Do not be fooled by candidates running on hot-button issues which often represent a very small part, if any, of elected officials’ responsibilities and may even be out of their jurisdiction.
Discerning what is right for all God’s people is a great challenge in our world. Marcus Borg wrote a book several years ago entitled Reading the Bible Again For the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously But Not Literally. The title itself is good advice. This might be a good time to read the Bible again for the first time. Learning from the challenges and the mistakes of our ancestors in faith could be helpful. While the culture may be different; people are not. I was impressed by Greg Jacob’s testimony in the January 6th hearings. He was Mike Pence’s legal advisor and followed him to the basement of the capitol escaping the mob that was coming and threatening to hang Mike Pence. While Pence and Jabob waited in the basement, Jacob read his Bible and found similarities in Daniel 6, the story of Daniel in the lion’s den to Pence’s situation.
Prayer: Lord, we live in difficult times. Teach us your lessons so that we might express our freedom to do what is right. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.