The True Value of "FREEDOM"
"Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” so sang the raspy voice of folk singer Richie Havens. This was the battle cry of the Woodstock generation.
Depending on your age, you might think that the Woodstock I’m referring to is Snoopy’s yellow bird friend from the “Peanuts” comics strip. But the Woodstock I'm talking about is the Woodstock Festival of 1969, where almost half a million young people gathered in an open field in Catskills, New York for 3 days of non-stop music.
Woodstock was one “hell” of an unwashed party. Drugs, liquor, and sex ruled those days as everyone felt "liberated" by the music. From this came slogans like “Freedom.” “Peace.” “Make love, not war.” It was an era when teenagers played vinyl records, thinking they were too cool for school. Richie Haven’s “Freedom” became the defining song of the American youth, and Woodstock was the nexus for a countercultural hippie generation.
Fast forward to many years later. When you listen to the song "Freedom" today, you’d think that freedom was the last thing that Haven was singing about! With lyrics like, "Freedom! Freedom... sometimes I feel like a motherless child...a long, long way from home," he sounded more like he was describing freedom as the behavior of an undisciplined, abandoned, and unparented child! But it wasn’t just the word “freedom” that lost its biblical meaning after Woodstock. Other words such as “love” and “peace” have also gradually lost theirs.
A Loss for Words
When words like “freedom”, “peace”, and “love” stray from their original meaning, they become vague and subjective. These words lose their power in the sense that anyone can now define them according to their tastes, opinions, and worst of all, feelings. In this, they become less valuable.
Unfortunately, this can also mean that we may miss out on the wisdom and clarity brought by the truth found in their original meaning. For example:
The world says, "Freedom is doing anything you want. If it feels good, do it."
But God says: “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.” (1 Peter 2:16)
The Bible says that the true meaning of freedom isn't being free to sin; freedom is actually Christ liberating you from the chains of sin… so you can do what is right!
Changing Values
Just like what happened to “freedom”, “peace”, and “love”, the word “value” has also deviated from its true meaning. “Value” now becomes what anyone wants it to be.
Take the case of Sue Rodriguez. She was a woman who was diagnosed with a terminal illness and wished to end her life when she pleased. Her case reached the Canadian Supreme Court when she asked for a physician-aided suicide. Her argument was, “Why on earth would anyone want to impose their own value system on me? I’ve got mine and they’ve got theirs.”
Truly, the way the world looks at values and how the Bible defines it are two different things:
The world values greed for “more”, while Jesus sees the widow's two-cent offering as valuable.
The world mocks at faithfulness, while God sees it as something of great worth.
Worldly laws legalize abortion, while God calls every child in a mother's womb "wonderfully made."
Given these two opposing views, the question is: will you be willing to gamble by basing your life on someone’s, anyone’s, definition of what is valuable?
The Final Say
Several weeks ago, I mentioned how values are always based on a standard. That one standard determines the worth of all the other values attached to it. Without a benchmark for what is valuable, all our valuation becomes mere guesswork.
The standard that I am referring to here is the supreme value of God. He alone is the benchmark. Knowing God as the highest value allows all other values to find their true worth.
Next week, we'll start talking about each of the six universal values. We begin with the value that a lot of billboards, magazines, and women put a premium on--clothes.
See you next week.
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