danielredbeard’s weblog

I think this may be the first Independence Day where I know I am truly free.

But I am not independent. Actually, I’m more dependent on God right now in my life than ever before… thankfully. And this, in a way that only makes sense in His Kingdom, is freedom.

This Independence Day I challenge the Followers of The Way in America to ponder deeply as to where they find their identity. I’ve been on this journey for the last year or so, and it’s caused me to reluctantly and humbly shed some identities that were tailor-made, fitted perfectly for ideologies that I didn’t just consume, but reproduced.

Identities like Conservative or Liberal, Progressive or Traditionalist, Left or Right, Democrat or Republican, Denomination or Non-Denomination, and so on. I used to be really – REALLY – dependent on the ideologies that shaped my opinions: I am an American. I am a Conservative Libertarian. I am a “ditto head.” I am a creative.  Etc.

The more I see life in a Kingdom or Empire frame, though, the clearer it becomes to me that these identities are worthless. It’s strange. Really strange. I listen to pundits, newscasts, and politicians, etc. these days and the stuff that just a year ago would have stirred me into a few hours of ideological ranting and well-framed argument points now just seem… I can’t believe I’m saying this… silly.

It’s even more underscored by this being an election season! We have a blatant Neo Socialist running against a 1960s Democrat, and it stirs only small ripples of ideological thought – not massive waves – in me.

I’m not a well-put together man. I don’t have “it” figured out a great deal. I sense that I’ve happened upon – or was led to – some kind of deeper truth, but applying it is as much a trial-and-error practice as anything else.

I just thought that with tomorrow being a day where independence and Americanism are celebrated, it would be of future use to jot down where I’m at in the process of shedding identities that don’t mean anything. There is a lot more I have and want to say on this topic, but it’s still too soft to get out in the open. Those thoughts need to be a bit more defined and practiced before writing about it.

This time next year I hope to celebrate this day having figured more of this journey out. The Empire will have a new king, and the Empire may have changed for better or worse. But God will have not changed. Truth will still be truth.