We're not Free

Let’s talk about freedom.

One of the hardest truths to swallow is this: Slavery is the greatest rebrand in history.

We may not see chains, but make no mistake—many of us are still enslaved. We’ve just swapped iron shackles for digital ones, paper ones, psychological ones. We’ve got looser nooses—but tighter control. And as we sit around barbecuing and watching fireworks, calling it “Independence,” we need to start asking—independent from what?

We celebrate a freedom we don’t even live in.

We elect leaders who legislate away our liberties, who bury us in debt, who tell us what we can say, do, build, and believe.

And then we call it democracy. We call it progress.

But God calls it rebellion.

> “But the people refused to listen to Samuel. ‘No!’ they said. ‘We want a king over us.’”

— 1 Samuel 8:19

In Scripture, the people begged for a king. And God warned them—warned that a king would enslave them, take their sons and daughters, their land, their money. But they insisted. So He gave them what they asked for.

And we’re still doing it. We cry out for rulers. We idolize political parties. We bow to influencers, industries, and systems that were never built to set us free.

We’re living in spiritual, mental, and economic slavery.

Not because God failed us—but because we forgot Him.

We’ve been handed access—tools, tech, resources—but we’ve used it to destroy families, cheapen morality, and divide communities. We can’t blame just one side. The dysfunction is everywhere. And if we’re honest, it’s in us too.

We’re tired, overworked, underpaid, and under-resourced.

We don’t own our time, our land, or even our identities.

We walk around thinking we’re free because we can vote or scroll or speak—but true freedom is deeper than that.

> “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

— Galatians 5:1

You are not free if your paycheck disappears before it hits your account.

You are not free if you fear the government more than God.

You are not free if you have to keep pretending everything’s okay when your soul is screaming it’s not.

You are not free when everything in your life is borrowed and nothing is truly yours—not your time, not your peace, not your power.

But I’m not saying this to discourage you.

I’m saying it to awaken you.

As we come off the Fourth of July, I want to challenge you to come back not just sunburned—but stirred.

What will you do differently?

What will you build, or tear down?

Who will you help?

Where will you lead?

Freedom isn’t fireworks. It’s sacrifice.

It’s the willingness to love your neighbor, to speak truth, to make change even when it costs you.

It’s doing what Jesus did—laying down your life, your ego, your comfort—for the sake of something greater.

I’m not just talking. I’m doing.

Educating. Building. Praying. Showing up.

And I’m asking you to join me.

We can’t do it alone. But we can do it together.

Let’s stop calling this freedom until we live