Much sin has been committed in the name of liberty, and the church has far too often been an accomplice and supporter of those who live this way.

We have cheered our nation on in its struggle for national and personal freedom, while more often than not, what is meant by “freedom” is “freedom from accountability.” People do not want to answer to anybody, least of all to God. They want guidance from nothing but their own conscience and desires so they can be free to make their own decisions and do what they want, regardless of the consequences to other people.

People seek the “freedom” to leave their marriages, abandon their children, operate their business for profit and greed, eat as much as they want, spend their time how they want, and treat other people with disdain and neglect. The excuse of “personal freedom” often results in decadence, selfishness, greed, gluttony, self-centeredness, sexual-immorality, misuse of money, mistreatment of others, and a wide variety of other sins of the flesh (see The Myth of a Christian Religion, p. 85).

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We all value and desire liberty.

Yet just as with any desire or longing, when it is divorced from God, liberty can become a great danger and even an idol. First, liberty can become dangerous when we seek it above God.

I recently heard a conservative radio talk-show host say that mankind’s greatest desire is liberty. But this is not true. Most people prefer security over liberty and will sacrifice all sorts of liberties for the sake of peace, safety, and comfort. Liberty is the luxury of the secure (see The Subversion of Christianity, p. 168).

As soon as we begin to place our desire for liberty above our desire for God, the goal of liberty becomes our master. We become slaves of liberty. And liberty, as a goal and cause in itself, becomes a terrible taskmaster, sending people to their death, and exacting horrific crimes on people and nations which are viewed as obstructing our liberty.

We go to war in the name of liberating people from dictators, and frequently, the new leaders placed in power are just as corrupt and destructive as those which were removed. One group’s quest for freedom will often lead them to kill, enslave, and destroy countless others who are viewed as standing in the way of that group’s liberty and freedom.

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Liberty is one of the most valued and cherished possessions in the entire world. People who face tyranny and enslavement, or suffer under harsh and cruel governments, long for liberty and freedom. People who have never tasted freedom will give up almost anything to obtain it, and those who have lost their liberty, dream day and night of regaining it once again.

It is for these reasons, and many others, that the Declaration of Independence lists liberty as one of the unalienable rights of all people. All people deserve to be free people, based simply on the fact that they are people.

The basis for the liberty of all is further enforced when the Scriptures are considered. God, as the ultimate free being, made mankind in His image, and as such we also long to be free. And freedom is a theme found everywhere in Scripture. It may be that deliverance from bondage and slavery is one of the primary themes in all of Scripture.

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Though Christians claim that all people should have the right to life, we sometimes think the world would be better off if certain people just “left.”

Some churches feel this way about the LGBT community, those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

Loving LGBT People

In many ways, many churches condemn and shun this group of people more than any others, including murderers and rapists. Whatever your convictions are about lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender, shouldn’t they be loved and accepted just like anyone else?

Even if you think that their lifestyle is sinful, why would a church choose to condemn and reject LGBT people, while at the same time love and accept people who are guilty of other sins?

This statement by Greg Boyd should be plastered on the pulpit of every church in America:

Evangelical churches are usually refuge houses for certain kinds of sinners—the loveless, the self-righteous, those apathetic toward the poor and unconcerned with issues of justice and race, the greedy, the gluttons, and so on. People guilty of those sins usually feel little discomfort among us. But evangelical churches are not usually safe places for other kinds of sinners—those whose sins, ironically, tend to be much less frequently mentioned in the Bible than the religiously sanctioned sins.

It is rare indeed that a drunkard, drug addict, or prostitute would think of going to church because he or she just needed to feel loved and accepted. These people may go to bars, fellow addicts, drug dealers, or pimps to find refuge and acceptance, but they would not go to church.

[For a great book on how Christians can love and interact with LGBT people, I recommend Love Is an Orientation.]

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In this series about Give Up Our Rights we have seen that churches sometimes choose to condemn others to death so that they can pursue their plans and dreams for their own life. Our “right to life” causes us to sometimes keep that same right from others, such as drug addicts, alcoholics, and prostitutes.

Thankfully, within the last twenty years or so, numerous churches have started to show more grace, love, and acceptance to single mothers, and people with addictions to alcohol and drugs.

But there is still a wide gap between the typical church and whole segments of society where we would rather judge, condemn, and ignore than love, accept, and serve. By our actions and even by our words, we  tell these people groups that they do not have the right to life, and the world would be better off if they just died.

What people groups are these?

Muslims

People of other religions we have trouble accepting, especially Muslims. We view them as the enemy, as a challenge to our faith, and though we condemn Islam for teaching that all non-Muslims must convert or die, we Christians are often guilty of teaching the same thing.

This is not only seen in our willingness to go to war against Muslim states, but is also evident in some of our evangelistic endeavors where we almost gleefully tell non-Christians that if they do not convert, they will suffer and burn eternally in hell. I am not a Universalist, but this “turn or burn” message is not found in Scripture, nor does it come from the mouth of Jesus.

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