Bjcorbin's Blog

Last Sunday (i.e. July 4^th), as I prayed for this country (i.e. the USA), I began to see the undeniable bond between freedom and sacrifice.  I thought of our forefathers, most of whom sacrificed their fortunes, reputations and comfort to forge a new republic.  I thought of those who sacrificed their lives in the revolutionary war, in the hope that their brethren could attain some new level of freedom.  I thought of how democracy hinges on a people’s willingness to sacrifice a certain amount of their personal autonomy for the greater good of the group.  And I thought of all those who’ve sacrificed their lives in order to preserve this wonderful freedom that we’ve inherited.

But as I pondered this connection between freedom and sacrifice, in light of where our society is today, I had to wonder what will be left of it for our children.  We seem to live in a time when people are increasingly unwilling to sacrifice anything.  The collective cultural psyche seems to be that we can somehow “have it all”, which is essentially the anti-thesis of sacrifice.  When we reach the place that we are unwilling to yield our personal position for the greater good of the whole, we create a situation where it’s every man for himself and ultimately, survival of the fittest.  One of the great dangers in becoming the most powerful nation in the world is that it can cause a people to believe that the days of sacrifice have ended; but without sacrifice, the freedom will not stand.

For those of us who count ourselves as Christians, this connection between freedom and sacrifice ought to be abundantly clear; as it was Jesus’ sacrifice that attained eternal freedom for us.  But despite the perfection of His sacrifice, we too must be willing to partake of the crucifixion of our flesh in order to walk in the genuine freedom He attained for us.  Unfortunately, just as in the culture, the American version of Christianity seems to be increasingly predicated on the idea that we can (and even should) “have it all”.  But as the concept of sacrifice diminishes in our churches, it is hard to deny that it seems to be taking the freedom with it.

If Jesus (i.e. the Son of God, a man of perfect faith) learned obedience from the things He suffered, how can we expect any less?