LIBERATION!

2 Cor. 3:17

 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

 

Have you ever heard of “Black Liberation Theology”?  A few years ago most of us would have answered that question, “no.”  Today it is different.  Endless loops of outrageous statements by Jeremiah Wright and a river of continuous chatter from the news media’s talking heads have imbedded the phrase into the consciousness of America.  I am not going to attempt to define it for you.  If you would like to know more, there is plenty of information on the internet or in your local library. 

As a pastor, I prefer to combat errant thought about God and His Word by pointing to truth rather than at the error.  And I can tell you this: real liberty is found wherever the Spirit of the Lord is.  People can talk about liberation and can take up arms to achieve it, but they are chasing smoke; find the Spirit of the Lord at work and you will find liberty.  You see, men are liberated when Christ – the true Christ, not a Christ who has been invented to prop up a political viewpoint – enters people’s lives, removes their chains of bondage to sin and death, and sets them free to worship and serve Him.  Real liberty isn’t political, it’s spiritual.  It isn’t won, it is received by faith. 
 
James Cone, the founder of American Black Liberation Theology wrote:

“Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer . . .  Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy.”

--- Cone, Black Power and Black Theology. 

 

In Luke, the gospel most often used as the basis for liberation theology, Jesus says: “I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:27-31).   . . . Just a little different!
 
In the midst of all the politically charged rhetoric, remember this: God IS for the black community, in America and everywhere else.  AND God is for the white and yellow and red communities as well, in America and everywhere else.  And God is for liberation.  Jesus came and lived and died and rose again to SET US FREE; not from Rome, but from sin.  So “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God” (1 Pet. 2:16).  Now that’s some REAL liberation theology!

 

Pastor Keith Andrews