THE FRUIT OF FREEDOM

One last pearl from our persecuted brothers and sisters in China to inspire our boldness in proclaiming Christ:

I asked whether, when and how the oppressed could truly threaten a totalitarian oppressor. They offered this scenario in response:

The security police regularly harass a believer who owns the property where a house-church meets. The police say, "You have got to stop these meetings! If you do not stop these meetings, we will confiscate your house, and we will throw you out into the street."

Then the property owner will probably respond, "Do you want my house? Do you want my farm? Well, if you do, then you need to talk to Jesus because I gave this property to Him."

The security police will not know what to make of that answer. So they will say, "We don't have any way to get to Jesus, but we can certainly get to you! When we take your property, you and your family will have nowhere to live!" 

And the house-church believers will declare, "Then we will be free to trust God for shelter as well as for our daily bread."

"If you keep this up, we will beat you!" the persecutors will tell them. 

"Then we will be free to trust Jesus for healing," the believers will respond.

"And then we will put you in prison!" the police will threaten. 

By now, the believers' response is almost predictable: "Then we will be free to preach the good news of Jesus to the captives, to set them free. We will be free to plant churches in prison."

"If you try to do that, we will kill you!" the frustrated authorities will vow. 

And, with utter consistency, the house-church believers will reply, "Then we will be free to go to heaven and be with Jesus forever" (Nik Ripken, The Insanity of God, p. 262-263).

It's all about Jesus. Every part of our lives. Every circumstance. Every blessing. Every difficulty. Every setback. Every pain. Every success. Every failure. Every second of every day is all about Him. And here's the great part about it: whether you live in a country hostile to the gospel or saturated with the gospel, we are all free to make everything about Him. Believers in China are free to proclaim Christ. Believers in the Middle East are free to proclaim Christ. Believers in Southeast Asia are free to proclaim Christ. Believers in the Horn of Africa are free to proclaim Christ. And believers here in America are free to proclaim Christ. The question is not one of freedom, but one of faithfulness. The question is not one of oppression, but one of obedience. Will we be faithful and obedient to use our freedom to make much of Jesus in everything. Will our lives be all about Jesus or will he be an accessory to our lives which are really all about us?  Will we live as slaves to fear in a culture that celebrates freedom as it's highest ideal, or will we live as truly free men and women amidst that culture that is bondage to it's distorted forms of freedom? 

This helps me make so much sense of Paul's statement that, "it was for freedom that Christ has set us free." So many of us have been "set free" by the work of Christ on their behalf but we continue to live in shackles. Only when we use our freedom to make much of Jesus in all circumstances are we truly living out of the freedom that Christ purchased for us through the cross and resurrection.