Your Freedom Isn’t About You

The scene was desperate, at least for the woman who was standing next to the flight attendant on the plane. My wife and I were boarding a plane from the Society of Biblical Literature conference in San Antonio to head back home. We had already been seated, as had the woman who needed to get up almost immediately. She had a protective mask on (not that unusual) but clearly she was on the verge of having a panic attack. Fear ruled…and for good reason.

She was severely allergic to peanuts. The person who sat next to her just began eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

At this point the woman asked the flight attendants to step in and prevent the obvious exposure to peanut oil (even we could smell the sandwich). The man balked and asked why he should put away her sandwich. He had a right to eat his sandwich. When the man was asked to move to a different seat further from the woman, he refused. He had purchased that seat. The man’s wife then entered into the conversation saying that they the sandwich could be eaten because they were not told that someone had a severe peanut allergy. All this time the terrified woman was wondering if she was going to stop breathing if there was too much peanut oil in the air.

The man with the sandwich continued to argue with the flight attendants about the sandwich, ignoring the words of the flight attendant who wondered if the man every had any allergies or knew of someone with a severe allergy. I leaned over, as the man was getting more belligerent, and said, “Sir, where is kindness?”. Obviously, I did not change things when he blurted back, “I don’t need a lecture on kindness from you!” Well, it was obvious I wasn’t going to help matters, so I bit my tongue.

What is Freedom For?

In the end, the terrified woman decided that she would need to take a different flight where her life would not be in danger. It likely meant she would miss any flight connections. Soon after we took off, the smell of the peanut butter sandwich permeated the area as the man and his wife each ate freely.

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love” (Galatians 5:13).

In Paul for Everyone, Professor N.T. Wright says this about Paul’s idea of freedom in Galatians:

Freedom from restraint, if it is to be of any use, must be matched by a sense of freedom for a particular purpose.

So what is Christian freedom? It doesn’t mean that, now you believe, you can do what you like. Paul is clear about that. Life is a battlefield, with flesh and spirit opposing one another, and you can never be totally off guard. What matters, though, is that your identity is that of a true child of God, indwelt by the spirit, without needing the Jewish law, and particularly its requirement of circumcision, as your badge of membership. If you’re free of that, the spirit’s motivation and power mean that you will also remain free from the snares of paganism, and the behavior that goes with it. Free from the law, free from paganism, one is then free for God, and free to love one’s neighbor. And, as the following verses will set out, one is free to be led by the spirit into a new way of life.

Freedom from restraint must be matched by a sense of freedom for a particular purpose. Click To Tweet

When we landed, the “peanut butter and jelly sandwich couple” complained about being late, possibly even missing the flight, because of the “peanut issue” that occurred. The not-so-holy part of me wished they would miss their connecting flight! Lord have mercy.

As followers of King Jesus, we live to serve one another in love. Perhaps during this time of Thanksgiving and the ensuing Advent season we will be moved to love in ways that defy the world’s sense of its own “freedom” to do whatever desired. For the way of the world likely damages other people in ways not usually seen. Our freedom stops where love begins.