When the Holy Spirit first called my wife and I to “flee Babylon” over 25 years ago, I remember asking “who or what is Babylon?” It was nearly 2 years before we understood enough of all the Lord had shown us to hear and obey His call to leave man’s Laodicean church for Jesus’ Church alone.
The ensuing years were humbling and wonderful as Jesus taught us through the Holy Spirit, corrected and freed us from the manipulative and errant doctrines of men, and led us into casual home-based fellowship with a few believers. When we were retired, the Lord called us to move from the rural Midwest to the Pacific Northwest where He led us to attend a small country church for the purpose of being His witnesses and meeting a few believers. We had visited the church 6 months before our move and found the people to be warm and friendly and we looked forward to fellowship with them.
Unbeknownst to us, during the 6 months it took to sell our home and pack for the move, the church was swept up in scandal and underwent major changes in leadership. When we arrived that fall, the sweet aroma of Christ-centered teaching and fellowship was no more and that “new church smell” quickly gave way to the noxious odors of man’s tradition-bound religion and pastor dominated service. Grieved beyond words we fled the church after just a few months and returned to that wonderful spacious place (Psalm 18:19) of freedom in Christ we had come to know and love so well. We have no regrets about our time in the small country church for we did indeed meet several believers and the many heart-rending experiences there served to rekindle my passion for writing.
About that, I once told a friend “ever since the Lord brought me to a place of peace and contentment, my writing has come to a halt.” With a laugh I mused “perhaps I should stir up some trouble for myself.” For in my experience it’s been trials and tribulations that lead to growth. And that wonderful place of peace and contentment is just a rest stop along the path the Lord has mapped out for me.
Creation was subjected to frustration but not by its own choice. The one who subjected it to frustration did so in the hope that it would also be set free from slavery to decay in order to share the glorious freedom that the children of God will have. (Romans 8:20-21 GW)
More often than not, enlightenment comes when the Lord tosses me into the fray and I cry out to Him for help. Silly man that I am, sometimes my troubles are of my own making, like the fallout from asking an honest but socially impertinent question. Perhaps it’s a character defect, but it’s difficult for me to resist asking such questions, if only to provoke an honest examination of the falsehoods people have embraced. In walking with the Lord I’ve come to love the truth and have little patience for pretense and falsehood. Though still somewhat uncomfortable for me as a recovering people-pleaser, I try to practice speaking the truth in love. Hence, asking questions that I know will get me lumped.
Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head. (Ephesians 4:15 CEV)
For example, one fall Sunday at the small country church the pastor announced a local men’s conference and asked if any of us wanted to attend. The conference flyer handed out with the bulletin that morning said pastors were admitted for FREE while everyone else had to pay $30. I found the double standard off putting and decided the conference wasn’t for me.
Ironically, the pastor’s sermon that morning focused on our identity as Sons of God in Christ during which the pastor read from Matthew 17:26 where Jesus proclaimed “The Sons are FREE!”. I vaguely recall muttering to myself “unless it’s a men’s conference where only the pastors are free. The rest of us have to cough up 30 bucks”. Note to self: muttering may be another one of my character defects.
When the service was over I shook the pastors hand on the way out and remarked “if you’re not careful, you’ll preach yourself into a corner.”
The pastor replied “how so?”
“You said the Sons are free, but I have to pay $30 to get into a conference that you attend for free. So are only pastors free sons, or are all of us free sons?”
He laughed but offered no reply.
I asked “what would you think if I sent in my registration form and on it wrote ‘The Sons are FREE’?”
Again he laughed and said “good luck with that.”
It was a light-hearted albeit awkward moment, intended to highlight a Biblical truth rarely embraced by the “Church, Inc.” Were that the extent of untruth we Christians embrace in lieu of Biblical truth, I wouldn’t be terribly bothered. Sadly however, that’s just one of countless ways in which we Christians ignore scripture and embrace a lie instead.
When they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” He said, “Yes.” And when he entered into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.” (Matthew 17:24-26 EMTV)
About the temple tax, Albert Barnes commentary Notes on the Bible says “The didrachma or double drachma was paid to the Jewish collectors for use of temple services. It was considered a voluntary offering and was devoted to the purchase of animals for the daily sacrifice, wood, flour, salt, incense, etc., and for use of the temple.” Therefore, when Jesus said “the Sons are Free” it was in regard to paying taxes for the temple building and religious services therein.
So is it not strange, deceptive even, to preach “the Sons are Free”, yet upon concluding the sermon an offering is taken to pay for the church building and religious services therein? Are we free like Jesus said, or not?
Christ has freed us so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. Therefore, be firm in this freedom, and don’t become slaves again. (Galatians 5:1 GW)
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, it is time we made an inventory of the many benefits of freedom in Christ, to take possession of them and to stand fast against those who seek to profit from our reluctance to make use of our benefits.
Freedom is what Jesus wants for us.
Our freedom is what Jesus died for.
Therefore, honor Jesus by walking in that freedom.
The Sons are Free 