Fleeing from Freedom

It is fitting that one of the first Sundays in the Season after Pentecost is from Paul's Letter to the Galatians.  The problem that Paul addressed in his letter was symptomatic of one of the greatest problems with Christian Church, both in Galatia and down through the centuries.  Paul's answer similarly crystallized and clarified a central motif to his own theology.

Let's begin with stating the heresy that Paul addressed.  When Paul established the Christian community in Galatia, he stressed that Jewish and Gentile Christians could and should co exist peacefully.  That is, it was acceptable, but not necessary, to express one's discipleship by practicing Judaism.  After Paul left, the Church in Galatia had begun stressing the necessity of complying with all the rules and regulations of the Jewish religion in order to be a follower of Jesus, including dietary restrictions, circumcision for males, and other rules regulating personal conduct. 

What is surprising about the Galatians' insistence about embracing a strict Jewish expression of Christianity was that the Galatians were not Jewish.  The Galatians were Gentiles.  Specifically, they were an ethnic group with Celtic roots that had settled in Asia Minor centuries before.  They had no connection with Judaism.  So the problem was not persons refusing to turn away from Jewish roots and traditions, but Gentiles with no prior connection to Judaism choosing to be bound by it.

Paul responds to the problem in Galatia by making the first written articulation of his radical antinomian theology: being a disciple is about freedom from "religion" as the term was understood.  The very notion of religiosity in Paul's day (and, I would argue, in our own) was associated with following a detailed set of rules and regulations.  For Paul, Christ brought a revolution that was all about freedom from religion itself.  The fact that the Galatians were embracing Judaism is incidental--what they were really embracing was an understanding of religiosity.  The Galatians were literally choosing to flee from freedom.

Paul reminds the Galatians, and us, that in Christ, we are bound only by following the winds of God's Spirit.  However, this does not make our discipleship less strenuous and challenging.  It makes it more so.  It means that we are not given an exact blueprint for what our discipleship will be about.  It means that we are given the example of Christ and asked to make a blueprint that is unique for us.  That is a terrifying and wonderful freedom to embrace.