Freedom

In 2000 and 2001, during my one-year Christian studies program at North American Baptist College (which is now called Taylor University College), I took a class on the religions of the world. During the course, we visited a few religious institutions including a Jewish synagogue, a Buddhist monastery, a Hindu temple, and a Sikh temple. There were a few optional visits that I didn't go on too. I heard about one where a group visited a Buddhist temple. As a Buddhist talked with the Christian college students about inner peace and nirvana, one of the students said that she had found inner peace through Jesus.

When I heard about this later on, I privately wondered if she had the same definition of "inner peace" as Buddhists have. Buddhists have a very high concept of nirvana/inner peace. It includes a complete absence of suffering and desire. Many believe it takes many lifetimes, through reincarnation (thousands of lifetimes or more, if I remember right). Besides the question of definitions, I wondered if this girl was really experiencing inner peace or if she believed she had inner peace because someone told her she did. And a question prompted by my previous blog post: was her sense of inner peace simply an escape; an "opiate," if you will?

(On a side note, I'm not saying a Buddhist understanding of inner peace is better than a Christian understanding. One question to ask: does a life without suffering and desire have less joy than a life where suffering and desire can be redeemed and result in something good?)

I think as Christians, we have the same problem with the idea of freedom. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free" (John 8:34-36, NLT). We get told that if we've accepted Jesus as our Lord and savior, we're free. Yet I don't think I'm really experiencing that freedom. I know I can't put absolute trust in my own feelings, but I can't ignore them either. I can't keep listening to people who tell me I'm free; I have to pursue freedom.