Becoming Free

Since we are talking college today, I had to include a picture of my college friends.  This one was taken when I was in graduate school.

I was never a wild child.  In high school, I was happier watching a movie in my basement with my best friend than going to some party that everyone would attend.  I didn't drink or smoke or do drugs.  Honestly, I was never even offered any of those things.  I never had to practice my “Just Say No” speech.  I was home at curfew, and I don’t even remember wanting to stay out later.  Serious goody-goody.  Nevertheless, I was still super excited to go to college and have the freedom to do “whatever I wanted.”    If I wanted to eat junk food for dinner, no one was stopping me.  If I wanted to watch a Friends marathon with my girlfriends, I could stay up all night.  If I wanted to go on a date with a guy, he didn’t have to meet my dad (who may or may not be cleaning a shotgun).  Going to college meant I was free to do and be whoever I wanted to be.

And you know what I discovered?  Whoever I wanted to be was pretty much who I had always been.  I didn’t stay up late – my roommates actually kept tabs on how many nights I made it past midnight.  I tried one party, and it was enough.  I still didn’t drink or smoke or do drugs or have friends who did. I dated guys from home, so my dad still met them all, and that was fine with me.  Freedom felt great, but its availability didn’t fundamentally change me.

In fact, the more freedom I have attained, the less I’ve changed from my high school days.  These days I have a husband and a baby and a mortgage and basically all the freedom I want.  No one is telling me what to do or how to do it, but I’m still the girl that goes to bed early, works hard, and acts responsibly.  I love the having the freedom to structure my own schedule (with some serious input from a six month old), but my priorities haven’t changed.

There is a scripture in Proverbs that says, “Raise up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  In my case, that wise saying is so true.  My parents were put in charge of me for 18 years or so, and when I was old enough to be on my own, I did not depart from who they raised me to be. 

Today as I read Galatians 3:23-4:7, I thought about this process of becoming an adult.  The scripture equates the law to a guardian or trustee of an heir.  The way the scripture reads, it sounds like Paul’s analogy is a son who has been given an inheritance by his father.  Let’s say this son has a million dollars and was given that sum at his birth.  However, the father also said that the son was not allowed to make his own decisions regarding that money until he was responsible and old enough.  In the meantime, guardians and trustees were put in charge of the son and the money to ensure that the father’s wishes were honored.  Paul says the law is like these guardians and the money like the promise of Christ.  He says that the promise was always there for the Jews just like the money was always there for the heirs.  However, the freedom wasn’t available until the right time.  In the analogy, the heir achieved freedom when he reached the age set by his father to receive his inheritance.  Likewise, the Jewish people who had been under the law and awaiting the promise of Christ achieved their freedom from the law when Christ actually came and died for their sins.  Christ’s coming did away with the law just as the son reaching a specific age did away with the guardians and trustees.

As I read, I saw the law in the same way I saw my parents growing up.  My parents were put in charge of me until I was old enough to have charge of myself.  I followed their rules and did what they said and listened to their lessons (most of them, at least!), so when I gained my own freedom, I didn’t need them anymore.  They had done their job and raised me in the way I should go, so I was prepared to walk the right path. So, in college, I didn’t set curfews for my dates or follow rules for keeping my apartment clean or check in with anyone about my activities.  But, I also stayed out of trouble and practiced all the morals with which I’d been raised.  I’d developed an inner conscience that made the rules unnecessary. 

Paul slips this scripture in the text which says, “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” (Galatians 4:6).  The way I see it, the law was put in place to help guide and direct people until Christ came and gave them his Spirit.  You see, before Christ, the Holy Spirit was not in all believers but was given by God to certain people for certain times and tasks.  But now, because of Christ, we all have access to the Holy Spirit which lives inside us to guide our thoughts and actions.  The law is no longer needed because the promise is ours just like the guardians aren’t needed when the son is old enough to inherit his money.

The law served a good purpose. As I mentioned in my last blog, it kept people focused on the Lord and aware of their need for salvation.  But the law had expired.  The people had come of age; Christ had unlocked the promise because he fulfilled the need for salvation.  That meant that people were free to live without external rules and instead with an internal guide – the Holy Spirit.  I don’t think Christ’s coming changed the path. The path always had and always would lead towards salvation in Christ and community with God.  Both the law and the cross pointed the people to God, but the cross allowed us a different type of walk.  Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, people were free to make different decisions about their actions.  For example, they didn’t need to make sacrifices any more or eat certain food or avoid certain people.  But, they were still meant to be focused on the Lord and aware of their need for salvation. 

It would look insane if I moved back home with my parents and let them structure my life.  I have outgrown that phase, and their rules for my behavior are not needed.  Nevertheless, the fundamentals of what they taught me are still present.  Their role in my life was a good one, and it served its purpose, but the time has passed.  I think this is what Paul is trying to tell the Galatians.  The law was good in its time.  It served a purpose.  But Christ came and time for the law was over, so to return to it so fully was as silly as a 30 year old woman moving home with mom and dad.