Freedom

A long time ago, when I was just in my teens and pushing all the boundaries, I think I about drove my dad crazy. Often, when I whined about why I couldn't do something, he would say, "You can do anything you want to. You just have to be ready to take the consequences."
 
Paul sounds a lot like that in 1 Cor 10:23: " 'Everything is permissible'–but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible'–but not everything is constructive." It's the early church version of the Spandex rule: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
 
The phrase "Everything is permissible" is in quotes because that's what a lot of Paul's followers were saying. They were free from the law, that crushing, 100+ volumes of rules against things like moving a lamp on Sunday. They were celebrating -- "Woohoo, I can move my lamp!"
 
Paul says, true, the old law is gone, but not the Godly standards behind the original Ten Commandments. You still need to think about whether your actions are beneficial or constructive. He adds (v24) "Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others."
 
That's the key, isn't it? If I use my freedom just to make things easy or good for me, then I'm not doing much for God or His people.
 
So what's the point? Why have the freedom if I can't do what I want? What good is it if I still have to constrain myself all the time?
 
I think maybe it's that the law brings guilt; it's a requirement that sets me up for failure. Freedom is the opposite; it's the opportunity to make good choices. If I make one that's less good, that doesn't necessarily make me a lawbreaker, it just means I missed something. The freedom to choose what's beneficial and constructive is a penalty-free opportunity to act obediently out of love, instead of being compelled to obey by a law.
 
Sometimes I'm too obsessed by being free. I push boundaries because, well, I can. Sometimes I miss the evening service. Sometimes I drink. Sometimes I wear casual clothes to church. I use my iPad to take sermon notes. There's nothing wrong with any of those, except for my reason for doing them.
 
They're all permissible, Paul would say, but look around you. Remember, you're seeking the good of others. Are those choices beneficial for God's people? Are they constructive for the body? If so, good choice. If not, well, I didn't really do anything wrong, but I missed the chance to help a brother or sister with my behavior.
 
In some ways that's harder than being under the law, isn't it? But that's the new law, the law of love. We act according to the love we feel. If it's hard, well, maybe the problem is I don't love enough. Which brings us back to the fruits of the Spirit, which points us back to putting in the time on our own spiritual walk. Freedom takes a lot of work.