REAL INDEPENDENCE    by Carl McMurray

Tomorrow will be 235 years since our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence. Although I can see the fireworks as a figurative reminder of the war that made that declaration real, I’m at a loss to tie in the grilling of hotdogs and burgers to this event. No matter, most Americans will give some passing thought during the day to patriotism and the spirit of independence that we like to think dwells in the heart of every citizen.  

Perhaps some of that spirit still remains in the heart of some of Americans, but this writer believes that many are kidding themselves. When  almost half of Americans don’t pay any taxes, but stand with their hands out, are we really independent? When we have to borrow money from other countries to run our government, are we really independent? When we sit on one of the largest oil reserves in the world and purchase most of our oil from other nations, are we really independent? “Independence” is a pleasant sounding ideal but is not as common as one might think. 

Unfortunately, the same is true in the spiritual world. We often like to think that we are independent when it comes to spiritual decisions and consequences. We justify our sins sometimes on the basis that they are“independent choices,” i.e., they don’t affect anyone but ourselves? Really? What rock of an island do you live on? All of our decisions go into influencing friends, family, loved ones, and our culture in some fashion, either positively or negatively.  

Sometimes young people get caught up establishing their “independence” by being enslaved to peer pressure, letting their friends tell them what their values are, their likes and dislikes, and how they should behave. Is that really independence?  More than once I’ve heard of Christians who threw off the “yoke” of discipleship to be “independent,” i.e., to finally do what they wanted to do and not what everyone else wanted. Is leaving Christ to go back to the world really independence?  Again, I repeat, this writer believes many are just kidding themselves. 

Romans 6:16 says, Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? The truth is that in life, there is no real independence from others, or from God. We are connected to others, affect others, are influenced by others, and will give account of ourselves in the end. Show the right kind of independence by freeing yourself from sin and world, Don’t kid yourself.