For
thousands of years freedom has been the topic of essays and discussions, laws
and conflicts. Aristotle and Cicero were writing on it long before British
lords demanded that Prince John recognize their rights through the Magna Carta.
Patrick
Henry said death was preferable to continued domination by England. Countless
slaves in southern states determined that dying in trying to reach freedom was better
than remaining someone’s property. In his 1941 State of the Union address,
President Roosevelt focused upon The Four Freedoms which he declared to be the
foundation of any civilization: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom
from Want, and Freedom from Fear.
My dormitory
room during seminary days was never locked while I was in class or at work. It
contained the daily newspaper, a stack of comic books from college days, and a
small, borrowed television. Everyone on the floor knew they were welcome to
come in and read and/or watch at any time. Nothing was ever taken, but one day
I gained something I have never lost, a new appreciation for my freedom.
The
Executive Committee of the Baptist World Alliance was meeting on the seminary
campus that week. Representatives from all over the world were present including
the Baptist Union from the old Soviet nation. Those were the days when Richard
Nixon was under heavy investigation and threatened with impeachment. It was not
one of America’s finest moments. At least I didn’t think so at the time.
That was
true until I came back to my dorm room from class and found three members of
the Russian Baptist Church sitting in front of the little tv and watching the
news of Nixon’s troubles. They were transfixed by what they saw.
I introduced
myself and was immediately asked if President Nixon would use the military to preserve
his power. I remember smiling inwardly and thinking how ridiculous that idea
was. That thought was followed by another. I was listening to three individuals
who had never known the freedom that had always been a part of my life. They
half expected something to happen foreign to my thinking.
I told them that
would not happen in our country. The president was commander-in-chief, but the
military were first of all sworn in their loyalty to the constitution and
secondarily to the presidency. He had to follow the constitution like all other
citizens whether civilian or military. The thought was amazing to them.
During this
Independence Day season, I think of what it took my ancestors in 1640 to leave
the shores of England. They sailed to what must have been for them the Promised
Land, a land rich with hope and promise.
Were they seeking
freedom from poverty? Were they seeking freedom from some form of political pressure?
Were they seeking religious freedom?
I know they
helped establish a country that promised the hope of many freedoms. I would
like to think that everyone now enjoyed those same freedoms. We know that dream
is not yet reality. Society has not reached the point of freedom embodied in
the words, if not the thought, of our founding fathers.
Those three
Russian Baptists in my dormitory room had little concept of a national leader
who was subject to a constitution protecting the people. They also had little knowledge
of a country in which the state did not shape the method of worship. Yet here
they were in a dormitory room on a seminary campus where no one could tell the
students how to worship.
“God is spirit,
and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) That
freedom exists in the heart, not in the laws of a nation. Ask any member of the
persecuted church around the world. They may be hiding in forests. They may be
imprisoned for carrying a Bible. They may be moving with their family from
refugee camp to refugee camp. They will tell you, however, no one can take away
their heart-worship of God. In their spirits they are free. “If the Son makes
you free, you are free indeed.” (John 8:36)
