Can a Believer Really Be Free?

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Many people feel that contrary to what religious people say, faith does not bring freedom but more restriction, more rules and regulations, less opportunity to do what you want. How can that be freedom?

Henri Nouwen, a Dutch priest, writer and theologian, who wrote 39 books and hundreds of articles about psychology, pastoral ministry, spirituality, social justice and community, taught at Notre Dame, and divinity schools at Yale and Harvard universities. Faith, he wrote and taught, brings freedom from fear, anxiety, having to prove yourself; and the joy of understanding that you are beloved by the Father.

Really? Joy? If that’s the case, why are so many believers devoid of joy?

What the Data Say

First, the data doesn’t support that view.

“There is a substantial body of research,” says the artificial intelligence site, ChatGPT, “suggesting that, on average, religious believers report higher levels of happiness, life satisfaction, and hope than nonbelievers.”

Secondly, believers – especially Christians - who are not experiencing joy may not be fully open to the joy of the gospel. The late Pope Francis is a good source for enlightenment about this issue.

In his encyclical “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis wrote that faith is not so much about following rules and regulations as about having a relationship with Jesus. That’s at the heart of the gospel. It’s impossible to be a disciple without loving our Father and his Son and being open to their love in return.

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So, before getting back to the idea of freedom, we have to deal with the question, “Why have rules and regulations, and doctrine, in the first place?”

For me as a Christian, it comes down to how ancient Christians constituted their faith. They asked the questions, “What do we believe?” and “How should what Jesus taught guide our relationship with God and with others?” They worked out the answers over the centuries and we’re still at it.

As for how that makes us free, it depends on what kind of freedom you’re talking about. If by freedom you mean the power to do whatever we want – overriding what others may want and ignoring our own consciences – no, faith will not bring that kind of freedom.

But it will bring freedom nonetheless, the kind best described by St. Paul as “fruit of the Spirit” in his letter to the ancient Christians of Galatia. This “fruit” includes “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (and) self-control.”

Of course, if you don’t value these attributes, if you define freedom simply as doing what you want, the freedom offered by faith will be meaningless. But if you long for what St. Paul promises as the result of faith, you will not only be happier, less worried about the expectations of others, and freer.

Fruits of the Spirit

Having those attributes, or “fruits of the Spirit,” includes freedom from fear, the bugaboo that haunts us as human beings. Nouwen, whom I mentioned above, saw fear as the great “prison” that holds all humanity. Faith – loving God and each other and feeling God’s love for us – breaks us out of that prison.

We Christians can turn to our ancient Hebrew cousins for help in understanding this. Psalm 27, which is estimated to be 2,500–3,000 years old, knows that faith leads to less fear, which leads to true freedom.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" 

  

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