When Freedom and Rights Eclipse Righteousness
In times like these, many Christians find themselves wrestling with hard questions. What does it mean to follow Christ in a nation obsessed with personal freedom and individual rights? What happens when what we call “freedom” starts to eclipse what God calls righteous and just?
Freedom, Rights, and Righteousness
There’s no doubt that personal freedom is a cherished value in America. Our laws are designed to protect individual rights, and lawmakers are given the authority to enact laws for the good of all. But as Christians, we must ask: Does the pursuit of personal freedom ever override our responsibility to seek what is good and just for everyone, especially the most vulnerable?
Scripture teaches us to love good and hate evil. There is a higher court—God’s court—that calls all people and all nations to account. “There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground” (Amos 5:7). When justice is twisted, when laws meant to protect become tools for harm, we must lament and repent.
The Perverted Sweetness of Justice
Today, justice for those shattered by gun violence has been perverted into bitterness. Leaders with the power to act, too often, choose not to. Instead of protecting the innocent, they cast aside righteousness for political gain or fear of losing influence. The Constitution’s intent was to secure justice and welfare, but when protecting rights becomes idolatry—putting anything, even guns, before God—it’s time to examine our hearts.
Our lawmakers, Congress and Senate, have the authority to pass just laws as other countries have done, to protect the innocent—especially children. Yet, so often, they refuse to do what is right, and the community suffers. The blood of the innocent cries out for justice, echoing the story of Abel in Genesis 4:10. God hears, and God calls us to account.
The Call to Act: Scripture’s Challenge
Proverbs 3:27-28 says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.” If we have the power to help and protect, it is our duty not to delay, not to make excuses, but to act. God gives us free will, but with that comes the charge to use our freedom for good, not just for ourselves, but for our neighbors and especially the vulnerable.
A Wake-Up Call From Amos
Amos 5:24 cries out: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. echoed this at the heart of the civil rights movement. It’s a call for us today. Christians cannot stand by as lawmakers refuse reforms that could save lives. Ninety percent of Americans want stricter gun laws or better background checks—and yet, leaders look away, indifferent to the suffering.
Who Pays the Cost?
Innocent children suffer most in a broken world and a broken system. When personal rights are prioritized above the lives of the vulnerable, we sacrifice our own children for the sake of a few. The tragedies in schools, houses of worship, theaters, and festivals are not random—they are the result of choices, of laws, and of hearts turned cold.
Repentance and Hope
There is hope. God’s grace is still available to all who turn from evil and seek what is good. Those who truly seek, love, and do good may help save this land from ruin. This is a call to repentance—a return to God’s standards, not just the standards of human law. He invites us back to righteousness, to mercy, and to justice.
Let us not be like those described in Amos, who “turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.” Instead, may we be people who let justice flow and who do not withhold good when we have the power to do it.
The time to act is now. The blood of the innocent cries out. God is watching—and calling us to choose His way, the way of justice, mercy, and truth.
Minister A Francine Green
August 2025
afrancinegreen.com 