Celebrating Independence

                Early in the morning, a high school marching band will lead a glorious processional of bright red fire trucks, marching war veterans, flag-bearing horseback riders, candy-throwing circus clowns, and a roaring convoy of army tanks.  The warmth of the summer sun betrays the fact that it is early July.  As morning becomes afternoon, children with painted faces will bounce through inflatable castles.  They will enjoy pony rides, snow cones, and sugar-coated “elephant ears” of fried dough.  And fathers everywhere will struggle to light a charcoal fire for the evening cookout.  The summer sun will finally fade into the West, and the “rocket’s red glare” will be our nighttime amusement.

                If this scene on the landscape of your mental horizon seems very familiar, it is probably because you’ve spent seemingly endless summers celebrating your national Independence Day this way.  The first days of July bring to most Americans a deep sense of patriotism.  To live in a nation that values liberty, gained at the great cost of battles fought and lives lost, is a great privilege.  For many, knowing independence has been a way of life.  In our work, our family lives, our vacations, holidays, and our daily routines, we breathe the air of freedom without knowing it. 

    On July 9^th, the people of South Sudan will observe the first anniversary of their own Independence Day.  The scene will doubtless be much the same.  Parades will march down city streets, celebrations will hold sway over the daily grind, and young and old will sit around charcoal fires to tell the great patriotic stories.  But certainly the day’s events will not be taken for granted.  The newfound freedom will be like a refreshing breeze in what has been a stifling political atmosphere for many years.

    It is here, in these very moments of celebration, in America, South Sudan, and throughout the world, that the Christian must be wary.  For if anywhere we bite temptation’s apple, in its oldest, most deadly form, we do so in regard to our independence.  Man’s great sin has been described by Saint Augustine as “the result of Pride, of the movement whereby a creature (that is, an essentially dependent being whose principle of existence lies not in itself but in another) tries to set up on its own, to exist for itself” (C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, Chapter 5).  To have political independence is a wonderful gift.  To have spiritual independence is to inherit Hell.

    As we reflect on our own spiritual condition, binding our soul to the Savior as if sheep to a Good Shepherd, let us reject the notion of spiritual independence and plead for the strength of submission.  Let us embrace our creaturely role: to seek living water from a source of everlasting abundance and thus be liberated from our slavery to corruption. 

    Prayer for the fledgling Republic of South Sudan is still a desperate need.  Alongside their momentous gains, there exist the birth-pains of a newborn nation.  Much of their infrastructure was tied to the North.  And with the severed channel of supplies, there are dangerous food shortages, overwhelming sickness met by small stocks of medicines, and life-threatening conditions among refugee populations.  On July 9^th, South Sudanese will celebrate the joy of political independence.  May they also know the glorious freedom of the sons of God (Romans 8:21).  This is our prayer.