"You never help me around the house" says the wife. "Yes I do, I do this and this and this ..." says the husband. This is probably a typical dialogue that happens in many households. In this scenario, the husband may be feeling that his freedom is being violated, that his wife is wanting him to stop doing the things he wants to do.

As I thought about Independence day, I began to reflect on the word "freedom," a word that is being thrown around during our national holidays. Freedom is a tricky thing because one group's freedom could negatively affect other people. For example, one person's freedom of speech could make another person feel uncomfortable. A sermon that attacks a certain sin could make a person who is practicing that sin uncomfortable. Do we then have to limit freedom of speech? If so, how far do we go?

My purpose is to reflect on another kind of freedom, a freedom that enhances human relationships, freedom in Christ. The epistles talk about freedom from law, which at first glance could result in many broken relationships. However, let us think about the concept of law.

Law serves love, so where there is natural love for others, law is not necessary. Law also prevents the full expression of human nature, which has a trajectory towards hate, selfishness, greed. Where that trajectory of human nature does not exist, law is not necessary. So what is freedom in Christ?

When Jesus bids us to follow him, he asks us to follow him to the cross. The Christian life is then a life lived in the light of the cross. Just as Jesus gave up himself, his prerogative to destroy his enemies, his prerogative to live a normal life, Christians are called to give up the trajectory of his nature that seeks its own ends. Behind the cross is the resurrection, where a new being arises. Christians also follow Christ in his resurrection, the dawn of the new person whose trajectory is towards loving the other. The Christian then is not under law, but under that new trajectory. The law then becomes a guiding principle that helps the Christian live the new life. 

What then do we say about the husband in the beginning of this blog? The husband is seeking a law that tells him how much should he help his wife. However, the husband in Christ would seek to find out how he has not been loving enough to his wife that she feels unhelped and seek to help her in such a way that she feels loved. The Christian husband is driven by love and not by law.