Thoughts On Free Will...

This blog was originally posted June 4, 2007.

In an interview a few years ago, actor/comedian Tim Allen discussed his thoughts on free will. He basically said that it's hard to understand why God gives us free will as a gift, then punishes us when we don't choose him. Is that really free will? I find this point-of-view very interesting. Allen has a good point. Why would God give us free will, and then have certain expectations of what decisions we choose.

Then today as I was on a plane ride home to Indianapolis, I was reading a book called Flashbang by Mark Steele. Steele made a comparison between humans and a pet bird that he had owned as a child. His pet bird longed for freedom from its cage. Then the one time it got loose and out of the house, it came back. It had experienced freedom, then realized the comfortable protection of the cage was more appealing. Interesting. Steele went on to write that human beings, though longing for true freedom, also need that "cage," that comfortable protection. In short, we need parameters.

While I agree with Tim Allen's point-of-view, I also whole-heartedly agree with Mark Steele's.

So where does this leave me and my opinion?

I believe we can't handle total freedom responsibly. I believe God didn't want to create mindless robots, so we have the freedom to choose him or not. I still get confused in the details of free will, but that's okay. I'll never have it all figured out.

I'll close with a quote by a rapper who goes by the moniker Sintax the Terrific.
"Savior set himself at a distance to tease our nature / Not to overcome our will or frustrate our labor / But instead to set us free to chase his heart or flee his favor"