The False Dichotomy of Freedom and Responsibility

by Mike Beard
July 1, 2007

As many of you know, one of my interests is Dumbarton Church history. So I am happy to note that on July 3, 1850 this building was formally dedicated; on this day in 1855 an unnamed Indian Chief spoke from our pulpit; 1989 Native Chinese speaker, Man King Tso, preached his first sermon here. A few people claimed to understand some of what he said. I note that in a 4th of July sermon 1790, Brother John Chalmers, Sr. protested whites celebrating the holiday as long as blacks were not granted their freedom. On this day in 1810 the Quarterly Conference voted unanimously to “not invite Brother John Chalmers, Sr. to preach in our church or to assist in the administration of sacraments.” . I, as a professed agnostic, am proud to be a part of this great pulpit tradition.

Movies are another of my passions. Movies come in genres that vary by the season. We are now in the summer block-buster movie season with lots of crashes, smashes and loud noise aided by Computer Generated Images (CGI). So too, it seems, with the lectionary. In 2 Kings, Elijah and Elisha part the Jordan River with a swat of their cloaks, Chariots of fire and horses of fire appear and Elijah is taken up in a whirlwind. A true touch of Cecil B. Demille. In the Psalm, the very deep trembles, the skies are filled with thunder and lightening and whirlwind, the earth trembles and shakes. In Galatians, Paul warns of Christians biting and devouring one another; gratifying the desires of the flesh—fornication, licentiousness, carousing. Pretty dramatic stuff, well worthy of any Bruce Willis movie.

The lessons today paint a pretty scary picture of the reality that faced those that preceded us in the faith. Looking at the world we face today--a world of sectarian strife, poverty and environmental degradation—it is hard to believe that some ever-present but unseen God will take it’s people by the hand and lead us to freedom…that come hell or highwater, a God will make a way out of no way. But that is exactly what the writers of these summer biblical-blockbusters want us to believe. I wish that I could believe this, but I can’t; not in the movies or in real life.

Saul, now known as Paul, the presumed writer of the letter to the Galatians raises an appropriate theme for this 4th of July weekend. “For freedom we have been set free,” he writes. “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Hello. This I believe.

For most of my working life, I have had to wrestle with the false dichotomy between freedom and responsibility. My political nemesis, the National Rifle Association, claims to be the nation’s pre-eminent freedom organization. Their version of freedom is one that is a total anathema to me. Freedom as a license for one to do what one pleases regardless of the consequences to society. In the US our concept of freedom seems to have evolved to mean freedom from obligation to anything beyond ourselves. Too often it seems to mean compromising our ethics and values for the sake of doing what feels good.

We all know that Freedom is much more than just another word for nothing left to loose.

The pre-eminent symbol of our freedom as a nation is the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. In my public debates and speeches, I have often suggested that the US should erect a Statue of Responsibility in the San Francisco harbor because we as a nation must live with that constant tension between Freedom and Responsibility.

The basis of my belief comes from the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer observes that Freedom and responsibility are corresponding concepts. Responsibility is the freedom that is given only in the obligation to God and to our neighbors. Responsibility presupposes freedom and freedom can consist only in responsibility. However, the responsible person must act in the freedom of his or her own self without the support of persons, circumstances or principles. Nothing can answer for me, nothing can exonerate me except my own deed and my own self. Neither the purity of motive, nor opportune circumstances, nor the value, nor the significant purpose of an intended act can become the governing law of my action—for in that case I would indeed no longer be free. What I do must be done with the knowledge that as a free person there is no claim I can make to a valid self-justification. I must weigh-up, judge, decide and act on my own and then leave that action up to God—or as I would say up to time or history.

In modern life, Bonhoeffer observes, “we seldom are called upon to decide between what is right and what is wrong or between good and evil. As Aeschylus said ‘right strives with right.’ It is in this light that we understand that responsible action is a free venture. It is not justified by any law, it is performed without any claim to a valid self-justification, without any claim to an ultimate knowledge of good and evil, and for that very reason is a totally free act.”

In Bonhoeffer’s words: “With this is disclosed to us a deep secret of history in general. The one who acts in the freedom of his own most personal responsibility is precisely the one who sees that action finally committed to the guidance of God.”—or to a higher power whatever you want to call it. This I truly believe.

In today’s lesson, Paul reminds us that for Christians, freedom does not free us from the responsibility to the community. Christian freedom is not about personal liberty. Christian freedom comes with an undeniable sense of obligation and servitude. We are required to live in relationship one to another. Paul is advocating not a sense of self-indulgence, not just a freedom from; the freedom he advocates is the freedom to---the freedom to commit ourselves fully to each other.

I believe Paul Tillich’s definition of sin as a state of separation, separation from individuals—when we can not accept others as part of our world; separation from ourselves—when we are not capable of loving ourselves; and separation from the ground of our being, the roots and meaning of our life. What some would call God.

If sin is separation, than grace is the acceptance and embrace of community. As Paul has written, the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, You shall love your neighbor as your self. This understanding of freedom alone bears the life-giving fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
This freedom is a lot more than ‘just another word for nothing left to lose.’

I have shared with you what I Believe at this point of my life, but I know that Mary likes to end her sermons with a thoughtful question. So,…as I look back over my life, there is one thing I want to know…where did the 20th Century go? I could have sworn it was here a moment ago.