Declaration of Dependence
Independence Day has always been a big deal in our country. It’s the day we celebrate breaking free from tyranny. It’s about charting our own course and standing on our own two feet.
But as followers of Jesus, I think there’s something worth reflecting on this week.
While our country celebrates independence, we’re called to something a little different. In fact, the most life-changing thing you could ever do as a Jesus-follower is to make a Declaration of Dependence.
You read that right. Not the most patriotic E-News opener, but hang with me.
You see, real freedom doesn’t come from standing on your own. It comes from kneeling before the One who made you. True freedom isn’t found in breaking away from a tyrannical king. It’s found in surrendering to the rightful King.
Jesus said it like this: “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
That verse doesn’t exactly scream ‘Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.’ It’s more like ‘Land of the Dependent and Home of the Needy.’ Not as catchy, but it might be way more biblical.
No “pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps” language. No “do-it-yourself” spirit. No “you got this.” Just a call to total dependence. And I don’t think it’s just a spiritual metaphor. I think it’s the key to real freedom.
So let me ask: What kind of freedom are you celebrating this week?
A lot of us think we’re free because we can make our own choices. But being able to choose isn’t the same as being free. Think about it a second and I think you’ll agree. You can choose to live in fear. You can choose to stay in shame. You can choose to live chained to addictions and sins that have owned you for years.
That’s not freedom. That’s a different kind of slavery.
Apart from Christ, freedom is an illusion. You’re just switching masters. You think you’re free, but you’re still answering to something: pressure, addiction, bitterness, insecurity, money, status, comfort, sin. The list goes on—Amazon Prime, the scale, the approval of people on the internet that don’t even know your middle name…
But Jesus? He doesn’t offer us a beta version of the same bondage.
He offers a brand new life.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free…” (Galatians 5:1)
Not pretend freedom. Not surface-level, grin-and-bear-it, fake-it-til-you-make-it freedom.
Freedom from sin. Freedom from shame. Freedom from striving. Freedom from death.
And the doorway into that kind of freedom is dependence. That’s the paradox of the Gospel: the more dependent you are on Christ, the more free you actually become.
So this weekend, before you wave a sparkler dangerously close to your eyebrows (a real concern for me), maybe it’s worth asking:
- What chains am I still carrying that Jesus already broke?
- What part of my life am I still trying to control that I need to surrender?
- What would change if I declared my full dependence on Jesus?
What if this July 4th wasn’t just about independence…
…but about a fresh dependence?
Maybe this year, before you fire up the grill or get into that annual heated corn hole tournament with your overly-competitive uncle Jed, you take a moment and say something like this:
“Jesus, I’m tired of trying to do this on my own.
I declare my dependence on You.
I can’t save myself. I can’t fix myself. I can’t even lead myself well.
But You can. So take the lead.
I trust You with all of it.”
If you’ve never made that kind of decision—to fully surrender to Christ—maybe now’s the time. Not just because it’s the “right” thing to do, but because you were created to live free. And Jesus is the only One who can offer that.
And if you have made that decision, maybe this week is your chance to renew your declaration. To stop striving and controlling, and to instead return to the freedom of full surrender.
Listen, Beloved: in the kingdom of God…
the strongest people are the most surrendered
and the freest people are the most dependent.
Because in the upside-down Kingdom of God, dependence is the doorway to freedom, and surrender is the starting line of strength.
Let’s be a church that declares that boldly.