One of the fun things I’ve learned about the early church in class this past spring is that the early Christians were considered by the Roman establishment to be basically degenerate punks.

Punks?

They were stupid, believing in idiotic things, like a God who is all powerful and knowing, and yet comes to check on people and gets himself killed. They were doing goodness knows what, like sacrificing babies and having wild parties. They weren’t participating in normal social life, not going to regular church with their families. They were rejecting everything good in society and from the perspective of good Roman citizens, they were uneducated, low class, simple minded people being led into falsehood and the rot of this idiocy was a threat to society.

Silly as it sounds, they were essentially correct that the Christian movement was destabilizing to the Roman religion and their many gods. The Christian church, started by a rag tag crew of cultural misfits did overturn Roman society and much of the world. It’s also ironic how the Christians, these rabble rousing, culture crashing people through the centuries, became the ones predominantly worried about how the “kids these days” were going to ruin everything.

Despite Christianity’s central role in our history for the past two thousand years, the core messages of the gospel are still countercultural. It’s still radical, which means we’re all still rebels at heart. But what sort of rebellion are we in today? What’s your rebellion? These are the questions of the day.

Freedom and Obedience

The texts today are all about freedom and all about obedience and doing what’s right. The Roman empire had a very clear idea of what was right and it did not include following the teachings of a political dissident who was “rightly” crucified by the Roman state. It did involve following the ways of the culture and following the worship of the time.  These early Christians were actually degenerate “punks” and maybe have something to teach us today.

So, what do you think of when you think of degenerate punks? I think of rock n’ roll, of course!

With all this warm weather after a long spring, I’ve had the song “School’s Out for Summer” in my head. Alice Cooper’s song. Remember that one? Another metal song our degenerate punk early Christians might have appreciated is Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” Anyone remember that one?

The Twisted Sister song seems to be saying sort of what Paul is saying. We are free of the Law. We are free of these arbitrary rules, because of who we are. Now, Paul says that since we are led by the spirit, we are free. Twisted Sister doesn’t exactly claim God’s authority for this blessing, but essentially the song is based on about our inherent worth as humans and, as Christians we would say, our value as children of God. We are created to live lives of freedom, to be who we were made to be by our creator. God’s promises are for us and we respond in faith to follow the Spirit’s guidance towards joy, peace, and all the fruit of the Spirit.

What is This Freedom?

But, there’s also an obvious tension in the Galatian text about how we’re all free, as Paul says, and then he quickly lays out in the same letter that the people who fall into the “works of the flesh” will not “inherit the kingdom of God.” And he lists all the things to not do and all the things to do. It almost sounds like the opposite of freedom. It does not sound like rock n’ roll or virtuous rebellion.

In fact, it sounds like he’s saying, yes you’re free….if freedom means to you to be perfect. Notice how that sounds a lot like the messages of our culture, that tells us, sure you’re free. Just be sure to be rich, beautiful, smart and educated, and have all the right things, etc. Your list of standards you need to live up to might be different, but it’s all the same story. Hustle and strive to meet the mark, and then you’ll be OK. But that sort of striving to avoid the pitfalls of the flesh and aim for the fruits of the spirit is in fact, exactly the opposite of what Paul is saying.

There are two important translation distinctions to make in the Galatians text that should help us see Paul’s intent more clearly. In verse 16, he writes, “Live by the Spirit, I say, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” This is different than what’s in our translation, “Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desire of the flesh.” The second translation distinction is in verse 18. Instead of, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law” this should be translated as, “Since you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.” Do you see how these translation distinctions change the one in charge of living correctly and receiving the fruits of the Spirit from you to God? You will live a life in the flow of Christ not by your power but by the power of the Spirit. You will live a life of freedom from all the trappings of what Paul calls the “flesh” (aka all the bad things in this world) so that you can be the person you were created to be. You are freed to live this way by God’s power. You are not given a checklist of good and bad behavior to adhere to. These fruits of the Spirit are what comes from a life of living in the flow with the Spirit and living in faith and trust that God’s promises are for you. They are trustworthy and here today. Sometimes it’s hard to believe, but that’s OK. Even then, turn to God for help in your faith.

God has got you, not the other way around.

Paul isn’t the only rebel today. In the gospel, Jesus talks to three potential disciples as they begin the long trip to Jerusalem and he sounds pretty hard core anti-establishment. One guy says, let me just bury my father and Jesus says, “Let the dead bury their dead.” Another says, let me tell my mom where I’m going and Jesus chastises him. What’s happening here? Well, remember those early Christians, those rebels who were not going to follow society’s rules if it got in the way of following Jesus. Perhaps Jesus is simply telling us that anything, any societal expectations, any rules that impede our relationship and commitment to him is an obstacle to the kingdom of God.

In Christ, we are free. In Christ, we are free to be the people we want to be. I’m pretty sure no one wants to be a liar, cheater, or abuser. No one wants to be an addict or greedy or be lost in distraction. No one wants to be stuck in our harmful patterns that we actually want to be free from. So, it doesn’t help to say don’t do those things and you’ll be free. No helpful.  The freedom Paul is talking about, the freedom Jesus is talking about, is the freedom to be the people God made us to be. We are free to live full of the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, gentleness, and kindness. In the spirit of the degenerate punk early Christians and rock n’ roll, I’d like to add righteous rebellion as another fruit of the spirit.

So, it is a question to consider, is God calling us to rebel? How might Jesus want us to behave in ways that feel against the grain?

What might your anthem be that could foster and inspire God’s rebellion in you for the sake of this holy creation? It doesn’t have to be Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” But if it was, what would it be that we’re not gonna take? That you’re gonna take?

As a starting place, I propose:

We’re not gonna take the demeaning restrictions and demands of our culture, that hurt the poor most of all.

We’re not gonna take meaningless divisions between people and make them important.

We’re not gonna take the lie that we need to earn our way into God’s grace.

We’re not gonna take any limitations of our freedom to live as God intended us to live, in loving relationship with God and in service to all people.

AMEN