Vivre Libre ou Mourir
When it appears on license plates, Vivre Libre ou Mourir does not appear in French, but in English. And I have to admit, I like it so much better than “First in Flight” from North Carolina or “Virginia is for Lovers.” I still don’t know if I understand that one. The English translation of Vivre Libre ou Mourir appears on New Hampshire license plates, it is the state motto, and in New Hampshire it goes back to a toast sent by mail from the states favorite Revolutionary War son, John Stark. “Live Free or Die,” is the English translation, and it is the most recognizable of any state motto. It is noble, it is daring, and it sounds brave, because freedom is something we all cherish, we all yearn for, it is an ideal for which many have given their lives.
American freedom means many things to many people, and I don’t presume to be able to give a thorough account of everything American freedom entails. But Christian freedom, I do know something about that. And one of the most important things I know about freedom for Christians comes from 1 Corinthians.
“Am I free to eat meat ‘offered to idols’?” That is the question those Corinthians believers posed to the Apostle Paul, and his answer, well, it is surprising.
In that day, if you were invited to a fine meal there is a good chance that the lambchop you would be served would have been from an animal that was ritually slaughtered as an offering to a pagan “god.” Some Corinthian Christians thought eating a piece of meat that had been an offering to a pagan “god” amounted to “backsliding” into paganism or idol worship. The more informed Christians knew that an idol “is nothing,” it is no different than a block of wood or a piece of stone. Nothing in the meat was changed because of this.
Thus the question, “are we free to eat this meat,” or, is there something more important than freedom?
This Sunday I’ll tell you how Paul answered that question, and based on his answer I don’t know that Paul would have loved those New Hampshire license plates.