What Is “Christian Liberty”?

If you’ve been around churchy folk very often, you may have heard discussions about something called “Christian liberty.” But what is Christian liberty, really? Is it a blank check for believers to live however they want to, as long as the Bible doesn’t explicitly condemn their actions as sin? Is it a buzzword that salves a Christian’s conscience when he wants to indulge some little pet preference that his fellow church members may not condone? Or is it a beautiful truth that, sadly, can get rather misunderstood when we lose sight of its purpose?

Based on my wording, you may have guessed that the third option is closer to what I believe. (Also, good test takers recommend that, when you’re in doubt, you should choose option C.) Anyway, I wanted to take an ever-so-brief peek at this massive topic today. If all I accomplish here is helping you see one beautiful aspect of this truth, then I will consider my mission accomplished. So let’s begin with the passage that got my wheels turning about this in the first place:

Romans 14:17-19

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

The context of these verses is a debate between believers in the Apostle Paul’s time. Some Christians believed that it was a sin to eat food that had been offered to idols, and other Christians believed that God had given permission to do just that. But rather than dwelling on who was right, Paul chooses instead to get to the heart of the matter: “These nit-picky rules aren’t even the point,” he says. “The point is your hearts.”

Paul encouraged them not to focus on what they were allowed to do or what others weren’t allowed to do. Rather, they were to look up from their quarrels and see the greater goals: righteousness, peace, joy, acceptance, and edification. Don’t those sound a smidge more important than demanding permission to eat what you want or demanding others to stop eating what they want? Rather than spending their energy pursuing their own preferences, Paul told them to pursue the things that make peace and cause growth.

Philippians 2:4-8

And this, really, is the whole point of “Christian liberty.” It’s not the freedom to do anything you want or everything you’re allowed to do; it’s the freedom to choose love and peace over personal preference. Because isn’t this what Jesus did for us? Who deserved more than Christ? Yet who gave up more than He did? And He did it all out of love so that we could have peace with God and with each other.

His highest priority wasn’t to squeeze as much as He deserved out of every moment on earth. Rather, His priority was to give of Himself until there was nothing left, all for the good of His brothers—us. Philippians 2 says it beautifully:

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

As un-American as it sounds, Christ came not to take, achieve, impress, and dominate; He came to serve, love, give, and die. This mindset is what God calls us to as well. We aren’t here to see how many things we can get away with before we break an actual commandment. We also aren’t here to see how many activities we can take away from other believers. We’re here to follow Christ’s footsteps to the cross of love.

Philippians 2:9-11

But lest I give the impression that the Christian life is nothing but sacrifice, abnegation, and doldrums, check out the verses that come right afterward:

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Christ gave up His right to be worshiped during his short life on earth, but He will be rewarded with the worship of every created being at the end of time. He gave up His beauty and freedom on earth, but now He has been exalted to the place that He deserves.

So does this mean that if I choose to give up my right to enjoy this-or-that on earth, everyone will bow to me in eternity and recognize what a wonderful individual I was all along? Nope. ‘Fraid not. Christ is unique, and His sacrifice and reward are unique as well. The point of these last few verses is not that you and I will deserve worship one day. The point is that, as believers, our choice to live in love will one day be rewarded by Love Himself.

I mean, think about it: we are IN CHRIST, y’all! We are heirs of the promise of His blessing. He has been exalted in heaven? We get heaven, too! He has a new name? He has given us a new name, too! Every tongue will confess that He is Lord? That includes our tongues, too, which is great because we had already chosen to live in light of that reality! All that is His is ours. What an undeserved blessing!

Galatians 5:13-14

The summary can be wrapped up in just two little verses:

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Let’s be real: if we loved other people in the same way that we love ourselves, there would be a lot less conflict. If I sought what was in your best interest as avidly as I seek it for myself, I wouldn’t have time to worry about pushing my own agenda or claiming my own rights. And that’s the whole point, isn’t it? “Through love, serve one another.”

True Christian liberty, then, is the freedom to choose love over preference, and in so doing, we model the heart of Christ.