Freedom to Choose, Freedom to Love

I’ve had way more time in the last 3 weeks to ponder the many COVID-related issues at play in our country than I wish I did, and I’m pretty sure most folks are done with it, (well, until you get knocked on your butt by a breakthrough infection or lose a loved one because of it, which is where I currently find myself). But here’s my take on what feels to me like a hopeful pathway forward that is both fair and responsible:

I am encouraged by the trend I see in society towards personal choice, but choice that comes with personal consequences. If you don’t want to get the vaccine because of rational, non-reactionary, ideological convictions or because of personal health issues, then don’t get it. I get that, (or at least I’m trying to). But please give stores, gyms, schools, churches, synagogues, restaurants, hospitals, airlines, etc. the same degree of freedom to live by their convictions to protect themselves, their families, their teams, and their livelihoods that you want for yourself.

Every choice we make has consequences. Each of us can choose how much of society we’d like to participate in or how little we would like to participate in. That’s freedom, but not unbounded, irresponsible, “my way or the highway” freedom. None of us has the right to put others in harm’s way simply because we choose to, even if our intent is not to harm them. I can’t choose to drive 65 miles an hour past a school simply because I think I’m a really good driver, or becuase I have my rights and I really don’t think anyone will get hurt anyway. If you want to drive 65, then you’re simply choosing not to participate in the life at or around the school, but in this case, you’ve still got the highway to use if you choose to.

I should also add that I don’t think that freedom is the ultimate value that should guide our lives. But it does seem like giving people the freedom to make a responsible choice also gives people an opportunity to take an even a higher road and lean into the value that rises far above freedom: love. Love that looks like choosing to do the things that show others that our hearts are with them.

Forgiveness ≠ Reconciliation

I sometimes beat myself up for having a couple fractured relationships that just aren’t getting better. But then I remember it’s magical thinking to assume that forgiveness equals reconciliation.

Forgiveness ≠ Reconciliation

I can release someone from the hurt they’ve inflicted and unilaterally initiate the process of reconciliation by forgiving them regardless of their behavior. That’s up to me. But reconciliation is *not* a unilateral pursuit. Both parties must be willing to listen, come clean, and slowly rebuild trust through changed behavior. I can only do my part in the process of reconciliation, not both parts. So I do my best to forgive and open doors for conversation, and then I wait.

Accepting v. Submitting

When I was in my twenties the hot debate in Christian circles was: “Are we supposed to accept Jesus Christ as Lord or as Savior?”

Looking back I think we had the question all wrong. The big question is not whether we’ll accept Jesus as Lord or as Savior, but whether we’ll submit the entirety of our lives to his way of being and doing.