The Freedom of the Autobahn

The Freedom of the Autobahn

October 29, 2011

The other Sunday I taught the youth on the passage Romans 14. This is a passage that could be taken a lot of ways. It is all about how we are to exercise our spiritual liberty within the framework of caring for and understanding those around us. About how we can remain teachable and sensitive to the feelings of the weaker brother, or even the stronger brother. But the point I decided I would try to drive home to the youth was the contrasting message in verse 10. It stands there in the center of the chapter and tersely states that “we shall all stand before God’s judgment seat.”

I told the class about my recent trip to Germany and the thrills of driving on the autobahn at over 200 KPH. The freedom of knowing I did not have to worry about getting pulled over for going too fast was exhilarating. It gave the act of driving a whole new thrill. I didn’t even bother to follow the speed limits in those areas where it was posted because I was enjoying the freedom of the open road so much. Or at least I was until I came home and was talking with a friend who had recently traveled in Germany. He had been receiving a string of very expensive tickets after being photographed in his rental car barreling through various speed zones at high rates of speed. A sense of deep foreboding came over me. I had been driving in complete ignorance of the roadside cameras. How many tickets were being processed in my name? I tried to take comfort in the thought that surely they would not hold me responsible if I was ignorant of the fact that I was being watched. Was the German government even powerful enough to hunt me down and enforce the penalty? But in the end I just came to dread the mailbox. Maybe I could unregister my address from the postal service!

But then I had a marvelous discovery. On the bottom of the Visa contract, buried in the fine print, it said not to worry about traffic fines levied against people that rented cars using their Visa cards. Visa would pay all such penalties. They would do this just because they liked me!

Ok, it didn’t really say that! That was just wishful thinking! Visa was not going to pull me out of my troubles! But that idea did illustrate for me, and hopefully for the youth, that we are not just going through this life without someone who is watching over us. “For it is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment,” it ominously states in Hebrews 9:27. When I asked the kids if they wanted to live forever, the kids all raised their hands. But none of them seemed to have a realistic plan of how to achieve that goal. None of them had a working plan for escaping the judgment of God upon their lives and behavior. At least they didn’t if they hadn’t accepted the very real plan of salvation offered in the Bible. And this plan was not one of wish fulfillment. It was a tried and true plan that has been experienced and used throughout the last 2000 years –“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” Romans 10:13 . And in this case, the one backing up this marvelous, grace-filled offering is doing it for love. It is not because they are obligated to do so. It is just for the love of it. Something Visa would never be caught dead doing.

But it is worthwhile to reflect a bit more upon the freedom of the autobahn. Yes, there is freedom. But it comes at a steep price. To drive in Germany requires a very extensive and expensive time of training. All who drive on the autobahn obey very strict codes of behavior. One must never pass on the right. One must always yield the lane to a faster car coming up behind them. The Audi that flashes its headlights at you as it approaches from the rear at a closing speed of over 120 KPH must not be ignored! Text messaging at 200 KPH is not tolerated. And speed limits, when they are posted, must be obeyed. Yes, there is freedom, but it is a tightly controlled and ordered freedom. This is no free-for-all. Nor is the freedom in Christ that is so passionately spoken of in Romans 14 a freedom from all constraints. It is a freedom that places us under the loving constraints of God himself.