The Freedom that isn't Free

I have recently re-watched one of my favorite movies, Into the Wild. It is a story of a young man named Chris, recently graduated from college, who is seemingly obsessed with the idea of adventure of being free & isolated in "the wild." Though he has a family who misses him, and though he makes many friends who admire & love him along his journey to Alaska, he spurns their friendship for his adventure. For those who haven't seen it (but should), the movie portrays a very happy character once he reaches his destination- an isolated, beautiful location in Alaska. However, as time goes on, the loneliness sets in, and he wishes to be back in community. His wishes are denied, as the early spring creek he had crossed is now a rushing river, literally trapping him in the wild. To ruin the story further, he dies, thinking of the people he loved.


This movie, based on a true story, intrigues me for many reasons. I can relate to many aspects of the protagonist's life: an affinity for the outdoors, a recent college graduate, and, heck, our fathers both make a living in the aerospace industry! But more than that, Chris had an obsession. He dreamt long and hard about the freedom and vibrancy he would experience if only he were left alone, away from society, out in the wild. Yet, when he had finally achieved this "freedom" which he sought, it became a master to which he yielded his life. He had convinced himself that happiness lay in his idea of freedom; but his idea of freedom, he soon realized, wasn't really free, but just another form of slavery.


I wonder how often we do this with our lives. We fixate our minds on our ideas of freedom, happiness, pleasure, comfort, and purpose. We work hard for popularity, for money, for pleasure, or for possessions. We create false ideas of freedom and happiness by saying "I will be happy when ________________." Or "I will finally be free if _________________." Yet, even if you've lived as long as I have (which isn't very long), you soon realize that your idea of freedom or happiness really doesn't deliver in the long run. Sure, money can thrill us for a season, but soon we realize that Jesus' words ring true- "one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." We place our hope in pleasures, in power, and in life going exactly according to our plan. But soon, Solomon's conclusions when he tried the same thing come back to haunt us- "Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun."


Not many of these things I have in mind are "evil" in and of themselves. Heck, even in the movie, the idea of a trip into the wilderness can be a great thing! (If that were a sin, shoot, my dad would take Paul's title of "chief of sinners"). But when we fixate on them- a trip into the wild, getting away, happiness, sports, sex, popularity, promotions, possessions- the small creek in spring turns into a raging river in the summer, and our souls become trapped and dead. The only freedom that really is free, comes in drinking of the water that Christ gives. When we place our Creator's desires above our own temporal ones, we live as we ought to live. And though his desires for us feel like slavery for a time, in the long run, we realize that "his commandments are not burdensome" and true freedom has been found!