Before the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, people thought of themselves as part of a community rather than as individuals. The highest good was what was best for the community. Consequently, people tended to be more sacrificial in serving the community and less narcissistic in serving their own interests.

Since the Enlightenment, the highest good has been deemed to be the individual. So now people are more self-focused and less sacrificial. Consequently, today the common mantra is “what’s in it for me?” With this emboldened narcissism, there is a presumed expectation that individual rights or freedoms are paramount.

Given this mindset, when people today consider the idea of freedom, it is commonly understood as individual freedom—to do as one pleases. Any consideration of sacrifice for the collective whole is subordinated to individual rights. Freedom is viewed as the removal of impediments that keep individuals from expressing their will. Sadly, many professing Christians embrace this view, but it is not the Pauline view of freedom.

The apostle Paul focused on freedom from the bondage of sin that kept man separated from God and impaired mankind’s obedience to the will of God. The issue of sin had to be addressed for mankind to be justified before God. In Christianity Christ is the singular efficacious solution to the sin problem.

Many professing Christians give mental assent to this truth but don’t understand the depth of its implications. Among Christians, freedom commonly means that one can do as one wishes. The presumption is that Christ empowers humans to do their will according to their ways. This is far from the truth of the singular gospel of the grace of God.

Paul began chapter 5 of Galatians with a declaration that Christ has set mankind free from meritocracy as a basis for gaining acceptance with God. This means that those who have received the grace of Christ are positionally free from the bondage of sin and death. Christians are then under the imperative to live in this freedom, that is, to do the will of God according to the ways of God. This means denying narcissism and sacrificially embracing the purpose of God. Those who know Christ have neither the right nor the power to do their will according to their ways and attempts to do so will be futile. Rather, they should be so full of gratitude for the free gift of life in Christ that they can only live to do the will of God. Paul stated it well in this seminal verse:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 ESV)

This truth of the grace of God in Christ to redeem us (God’s people—the ekklesia) from the certain penalty of sin and death should so overwhelm us with gratitude that we can do nothing else but be servants of Christ. This means that freedom in Christ simply signifies a change in ownership. Before receiving the grace of Christ, everyone is enslaved to sin and death, but after receiving Christ a person is enslaved to Christ. This is real freedom—a change in masters.

To build any organization that delivers excellence requires people who live in real freedom from the penalty of sin and death. For those people who live in bondage to sin, their minds are debased (Romans 1), which means they are impaired and unable to make wise choices.

In a created but fallen universe, the only way to live well is to live aligned with God. Fallen mankind is in bondage to sin and therefore unable to make wise choices. This means that fallen mankind is unable to produce consistently excellent products and services over the long term. But in Christ, mankind is free from bondage to sin and has the capacity to align with God and therefore deliver excellent value.

Here is your business tip. To lead and manage an organization well requires stakeholders who know Christ as demonstrated by their progressive freedom from the power of sin. While total freedom from sin cannot be accomplished in this life, progressive freedom is essential to facilitate individual and organizational excellence, efficiency, and effectiveness. Any stakeholder whose actions reveal bondage to sin must be challenged to embrace the true freedom found in Christ. Progressive true freedom in Christ empowers people to work at the highest level and releases the fullness of human potential and is, therefore, a requisite core principle to facilitate delivering world-class value propositions.