freedom: sex, drugs and the road to damascus

“We have relinquished our uniqueness by becoming far less than we were intended to be.” -Erwin McManus**

What is freedom?
How do you define true freedom?
Are you like me and define freedom as the greener grass on the other side of the fence?

If only we could all be rockstars. You know, going from city to city…sex…drugs…rock-n-roll. It’s the ultimate way to live, right? But, then again, is this the kind of freedom that Jesus illustrates for the ‘Jews who had believed” (John: 8:31-47). Is that lifestyle truly free? Or did we just buy into the ‘illusion of freedom’?

Before we begin to answer these questions and ask even more questions, let’s define some of the terms that will eventually fall into our mix of dialogue.

Freedom- 1 the quality or state of being free: as (a) the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action (b) liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another.

Transform- 1 (a) to change in composition or structure (b) to change the outward form or appearance of (c) to change in character or condition : CONVERT.

Conversion- 1 (a) to bring over from one belief, view, or party to another (b)to bring about a religious conversion in
2 (b)to alter the physical or chemical nature or properties of especially in manufacturing b (1) : to change from one form or function to another (2) : to alter for more effective utilization (3) : to appropriate without right c : to exchange for an equivalent

When or where was your road to Damascus experience? Read Acts 9 and get acquainted with Paul’s conversion. Paul’s encounter with Jesus was the beginning of the transformation process. It was the beginning of Paul working out his salvation or his newfound freedom in Christ. You can call it being saved, a spiritual rebirth, regeneration or the acknowledgement of a Higher Power. Honestly, I don’t care how you verbalize it. The point to grasp is that this is the beginning, not the ending point.

Transformation in our following of Jesus Christ is a lifelong process. It runs against the grain of our ‘take a pill and it will all be better’ society. We want it NOW. Through modern culture, we have been conditioned to instant food, instant information and instant makeovers. To some degree, has Christianity bought into ‘instant’ conversion? Have we cultivated a faith that eliminates the transformation process? Have we traded the conversion process for convenience?

When we cloud our thought process with instant-this or instant-that we totally miss the process of God in our lives. We are enslaved to our own idea of following Christ. We are enslaved to our convenient ‘knee-jerk reaction’ faith. To often, I see this scenario.

• A person encounters God
• They realize their need for Him in their life
• They surrender
• They are born again

The ‘illusion’ that we have bought into (and enslaved ourselves in) is that this is the end. As if our lives will now be full of joy and we can allow God to mold us into His image. It’s instant, no work involved, no process…no transformation and definitely not a lifetime of transformation.

After the honeymoon period of our encounter comes to an end, this is where I struggled and have watched others struggle. Somehow, we still have the same ‘bad’ thoughts and we still have desires to do ‘bad’ things. Aren’t we supposed to be void of temptation after being born again? Let me rephrase the question, ‘aren’t we supposed to be void of being HUMAN after being born again?

I’m afraid not. ☺

This confuses most of us and our knee-jerk reaction is to be more moral, to work harder and do better. To start doing things that we think are good…or better said, to start doing things that we think are NOT bad. We hi-jack the process of God, because we MUST have done something wrong. Did I say the wrong prayer? Am I not good enough? Maybe I’m not one of the ‘chosen’? This doesn’t feel like ‘freedom’? The list of questions we have can be endless. The sense of confusion can be detrimental.

So, let’s re-visit the scenario:
• A person encounters God
• They realize their need for Him in their life
• They surrender
• They are born again
• They begin the process of transformation
• They begin to understand a life of freedom through Christ

It’s interesting to think about how our modern view of instantaneous conversion has created most of us to find ‘freedom’ in the very things of this world that will enslave us. Did God do that? Or did we do that to ourselves? Unfortunately, we are no different than other societies before us. We have always chosen convenience over conversion. It’s just easier and it’s much easier for us to control. “In the end it fools us into seeking freedom from God rather than finding freedom in God”*.

Jesus came to set us free. We were created to be free. As a follower of Jesus Christ we are called to be free. But understanding how that plays out in our individual lives is a transformation process that begins with our rebirth. Being born again is like walking through a door…it’s the beginning. We are walking into the process of pursuing and understanding the heart and nature of God.

Don’t confuse your new beginning in Christ as the end of your pursuit. Don’t be confused by the modern day, convenient Christianity. Don’t buy into the idea of an instant conversion. Realize that this freedom is found in the process of transformation. It may be painful at times, it may be joyful at times. Either way we can celebrate.

“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and ether are few who find it.” Jesus (Matt. 7:14)

Life is a transformation process, not a destination. Embrace it as a lifestyle and find the narrow road to true freedom and the heart of God.

**taken from “Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul” by: Erwin McManus