Freedom. It’s a word that’s used often in our post-9/11 world. As a country, we celebrate it, we fight to preserve it, we debate what it really means. In our personal lives, freedom is something we’re usually clamoring to get more of. As a teenager, that may mean trying to negotiate a later curfew, a car of your own, or doing more with your friends without supervision. But freedom’s about more than just politics or permission to come home after eleven.
For some, freedom is a dream that seems just out of reach. Turn on the news or pick up a newspaper, and it’s not hard to find stories about people who are literally dying to come to the United States. Refugees risk their lives and the lives of their family members by traveling illegally in the back of a semi-truck with little air, water, or food or by attempting to sneak across our southern border under the eye of watchful guards. Some resourceful but misguided Cubans even tried to land on our shores in an old car they turned into a raft.
While America certainly has its problems, we do enjoy a level of freedom here that is practically unheard of in many other parts of the world. Just walk up and down the aisles of your local grocery store or glance at the directory at your local mall to see how many options we have available to us. Everywhere you turn, there are choices laid out before you. Pick a movie you want to see, and you can often choose between several theaters where it’s playing, or you can at least select a time that fits your schedule. Once inside, you can choose to get popcorn, candy, or both (assuming your allowance is big enough). And it doesn’t end there. You can sit up close; you can sit in the back row; you can talk during the previews; you can leave before the movie’s over. And that’s just one small area of life. Choosing a college major, extracurricular activities, a boyfriend or girlfriend, even the drive-thru window presents you with a mountain of choices.
Some of these decisions are made with careful consideration, while others you probably take for granted. We’re faced with so many possibilities that it’s easy to forget just how fortunate we are.
No matter what country you call home, though, no matter who’s in power or what laws are passed or family rules are made to limit what you can say, wear, or do, there is one freedom we all share: we’re all free in Christ. I know that sounds like something you’ve heard your pastor say a million times, but have you ever thought about what it really means? From the minute we enter this world, circumstances we have no control over can make life unfair. Why were you born in America while another child began life in a war-look torn, drought-stricken nation in Africa? Why does your family struggle to make ends meet while your friends get to go on expensive vacations every summer? Why did you inherit Uncle Earl’s big ears and your dad’s unmanageable curls, while your sister has silky-straight hair and an adorably tiny nose?
The bad news is, there’s nothing you can do about your ears, short of plastic surgery (which I don’t recommend!). The good news is, God has forever settled the score. He’s balanced the scales by sending His Son to die for us. When it comes to life in Christ, we’re all starting at the exact same point. We’re all of equal value to Him, and we’re all equally free.
YIELD
What freedoms in your life are you most thankful for? What freedoms do you take for granted? What would you like to be free to do?
THERE’S ALWAYS A CATCH
It’s been said that with freedom comes responsibility. Or, as the Bible puts it, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded” (Luke 12:48). In other words, freedom didn’t come without a cost. While God doesn’t have a “use it or lose it” policy, you are responsible for making the most of what you’ve been given. Does that sound a little overwhelming? It might if what you’ve done so far with the freedom you’ve been given is to master every video game available or put that sharp mind to use by memorizing large chunks of dialogue from the Lord of the Rings trilogy so you can quote it to your friends. Not that I’m saying you need to throw away your video games or stop seeing movies—God wants us to have fun in a wholesome way—I’m just reminding you that there is also work to be done.
You (and only you) are responsible for making good on the gifts God’s given you. We’ve already established that in America you are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to pursue almost anything. When thinking about what you might accomplish, the possibilities are almost endless. So where do you start? At the beginning.
We talked in the last chapter about identifying your gifts. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to try on some different opportunities and see what fits. Are you a computer whiz? How can you use that knowledge to further God’s kingdom? Maybe you can start by building a Web site for your youth group to help reach other students or teaching computer classes to inner city kids and looking for opportunities to share your faith as you share your skills. Mission trips are also a great way to put your talents to good use while giving back a small part of what you’ve been given. From teaching Vacation Bible School, participating in drama ministry, or getting your hands dirty by repairing churches or schools in poor neighborhoods around the corner or across an ocean, there are tons of ways to try out work that piques your interest.
Now, I’ll warn you, it can be a little scary at first to get out of your comfort zone. Doing something new while you’re far from home or in an unfamiliar setting can throw you a bit. But it’s at those times when we’re weak that God is waiting there to help prop us up—so lean on Him. And after all, what’s a little initial discomfort if you can use the freedom and gifts you have to change someone’s life?
YIELD
Are there opportunities right in front of you that you’ve been overlooking? Has God been nudging you toward something that you’ve been afraid to try? What small step can you make today toward taking that on?
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING
When you were little, did your parents keep your holiday candy out of reach or limit the amount of cookies and soda you could consume? Do they still limit the number of activities or nights out with friends you’re allowed in a given week, month, or school year? While these limits can be frustrating at times, they’re there because your parents already know what you’re still learning: too much of a good thing can become a bad thing. Whether it’s eating an entire package of cookies and feeling sick afterward or joining every club and juggling several sports along with advanced placement courses until you wind up with mono or strep throat, if you don’t manage your freedom, you can start to feel more like a prisoner than someone who’s really free.
The Apostle Paul understood this way back in New Testament times when he wrote, “‘Everything is permissible for me’—but not everything is beneficial” (1 Corinthians 6:12). Just because we can do something, it doesn’t mean we should. Some people take freedom too far. That’s why in America, we have laws to protect us from ourselves and each other, and at home we have rules to do the same. Sometimes it seems like the more freedom we have, the more rules we need. While I love having so many options, I can’t help wondering if some of the people I’ve met in much poorer countries, people we would quickly label “less fortunate,” aren’t more free in the ways that really count.
In America, there’s always something newer and better to chase after. College kids are handed credit cards and allowed to buy expensive items they don’t have the money to pay for. We’re told daily that we “deserve” a new car, designer clothes, the latest gadget. This “gimme more” lifestyle can leave you feeling anything but free. I’m not immune to that either. But what I’ve discovered as I’ve chased after things and watched my friends do the same, is that freedom really comes when you stop chasing and find happiness right where you are.
FREE AT LAST
For me, creative freedom came in the form of an instrumental project titled Freedom. It let me express myself musically in ways I hadn’t on previous CDs, and I was able to combine my love of movie scores and symphony sounds with songs that didn’t have to conform to the rigidity of the usual verse-chorus-verse-chorus way of songwriting. Not that I don’t love singing a great pop song or leading crowds of Christians in a powerful worship tune, but this type of music is a gift I feel called to cultivate.
It wasn’t what most people expected from me. I was extremely grateful for the success I had experienced making Christian pop, and I was sensitive to the fact that many people were hoping I would deliver more of the same. But with God’s guidance, I knew what was right for me, and that gave me the courage to take the more unpredictable path.
It’s something I’ve been doing much of my life. College would have been a safer bet (and probably would have had my parents breathing a sigh of relief), but with some divine direction, I set out to chart my own unique course. I arrived in Nashville with my musical talent and little else. There were tough times, and it’s not a road I’d recommend for everyone, but it was right for me at the time. And as my career took off and there was the temptation to become more structured and think ahead three, five, or even ten years, I chose not to do that. While there may be times when I could have planned more or been a little more disciplined, I believe it’s important to never have my life so planned out that I lose the freedom to follow wherever God might lead me next.
Fortunately for me, my number one goal has never been to come up with a ten-year plan. I don’t think I’d even know how to go about it. It’s not part of how I’m wired. Anyway, I don’t want to get too distracted with that because I know that it’s what I do right now in the short-term, the decisions I make every day, that will shape what happens ten years from now anyway. So instead of trying to do any detailed, long-range planning, I just continue to ask God, “What’s next?”
Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t have dreams I’d like to see become reality. I’d love to score another film. I’d love to go out and do symphony shows and to travel to Africa, and I’m willing to make the necessary plans to make those things happen—if that’s what God wants me to do. In the same way, you may want to become a marine biologist or a fighter pilot, and both of those jobs will require some planning. You can’t sit back and wait for someone to hand you a lab coat or a flight suit and welcome you to the team. There’s a procedure to follow. So understand, I’m not advocating having no plan, I’m saying don’t have your life so rigidly planned that there’s no room for God to move.
Some might call it living on the edge, but I see it as staying open to whatever God wants to do. And it’s when I’m there, in that place, that I feel like I have the greatest potential to do my best work. That attitude has led to some of my best songs. It also impacts my live shows. Just last night, I called my keyboard player and said, “I’ve got a different way I want to open the show tonight.” As a result, we are all scrambling, but I love it because the show’s going to feel completely different and be exactly what God wants it to be.
There are others who have taken being open to God to even greater extremes. While revered later in her life for her work with the poorest of the poor in India’s slums, Mother Teresa wasn’t always applauded for stepping outside the lines. Initially, she had to fight her superiors for permission to live out her calling the way she knew God wanted her to. And even once she was allowed to follow the path set before her, it wasn’t an easy one. She was surrounded daily by people who were suffering before dying horrible deaths. It wasn’t an easy road or a call most of us would find easy to follow.
Another person closer to home who challenged me was fellow musician Rich Mullins. Before he died in 1997, we were still becoming friends. While we didn’t spend a lot of time together because he was rarely home, his lifestyle intrigued me. He could pack everything he owned into a space the size of half my office. Because of his choice to not let material possessions tie him down, he could live in a tent or on an Indian reservation. I think I envied that a little bit. While his music was successful and he touched hundreds of thousands of people with his songs, he took a minimal annual salary and gave away much of what remained.
I remember asking myself at one time, “Why am I not doing that?” and “Should I be doing that?” But that was Rich’s path, not mine. I have a family, and while I respect it, I’m not called to that particular lifestyle. Still, there was something about it that was very challenging. So while I don’t live that way, I know I’m not afraid to live that way. I think I could do it. And that’s the key: while I may not be called to walk away, it is important to know I could. We each need to learn to hold things loosely, to know that there is nothing in this life that you couldn’t give up if He asked. That’s when you know you’re really free.