The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: You will always know a free man or free woman, particularly who's a Christian, because of their servanthood.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans says freedom from sin gives us freedom to give.

Dr. Tony Evans: The freer you realize you are, the greater servant you should become.

Guest (Male): This is the Alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.

It's perfectly fine for Christians to be looking out for number one, as long as we realize that the real number one isn't us. Today Dr. Evans digs into what the scriptures have to say about how we can find freedom from selfishness. Let's listen.

Dr. Tony Evans: The freest people in the world should be Christians, brethren. You have to understand that freedom fundamentally is not a western concept invented by men. It is a divine concept granted by God to men. Freedom is not an adjunct to life. Freedom is not a side benefit. It's supposed to be the warp and woof. It's supposed to be the crème de la crème. It's supposed to be the core and the essence. It's supposed to be the nucleus of who you are. To discuss freedom as a calling, you have to understand that it is a God-given right to be free.

Before there was any sin in the world, any wrongdoing in the world by men, God told Adam to have dominion. That means to dominate the earth. That is to use one's gifts and skills for the fulfillment of God's purposes. Then he told him in Genesis chapter two, verses 16 and 17, he says from every tree of the garden you may freely eat. Freedom was introduced in the garden. Every tree of the garden you may freely benefit from.

He says now this benefit that you're going to get will not be without your participation. We want you to guard the garden. We want you to cultivate the garden. We want you to produce, duplicate, multiply, and replenish what God has given you. The only freedom you do not have is to violate my law. Within the boundaries of my law, from every tree you may freely eat, except the tree in the midst of the garden. That tree you can't eat it. That tree is off-limits.

Let me remind you why that tree was off-limits. That tree was off-limits to remind Adam and Eve that while he was enjoying and they were enjoying all the other free stuff that was in the garden, they had to enjoy it underneath the rule of God. So God created a restriction to remind them that he was in charge. In other words, I don't want you to be so free you forget who's in charge here. Freedom has its limitations. You're not free outside of my rule, and I want your knowledge base to be dependent upon me, not based on how much information you can accumulate independently of me.

I want you to have progressive knowledge under God, not information that leaves God out. Today what we have in our world in the postmodern age is accumulation of data without regard for God. Whenever there is accumulation of data, the knowledge of good and evil, independently of God, there will be automatically tied to that a loss of freedom. So the more God is excluded out of a situation, the less free you become. Do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh.

He says you've been called to be free. Free ought to be your middle name. Free ought to be how you flow. Legalism is a wrong use of the law. The law can't make you better. It can only show you that you have failed. It can't fix the failure. So whenever you go to the Ten Commandments to make you better, it won't help you. The Ten Commandments is a mirror, and a mirror can only show you what's wrong. It can't correct what it reveals. So if your Christian life is more of what you can't do than what you can do, you're not living the Christian life, nor are you experiencing freedom.

He says while on the one hand legalism is a detriment to freedom, he says a misunderstanding of liberty is also restrictive of freedom. Don't use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. The Greek word opportunity means base of operation. You think of a military base where the soldiers gather and receive their instructions for war. He says don't use freedom, don't use the term freedom as a basis for the flesh to do its thing. Libertinism, we will call it. It's that mindset, because I'm free, I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, however I want, for as long as I want, because I've got to be me.

The word flesh, when used spiritually, is not talking about the body. It's talking about self-will. To be fleshly is to live and please self rather than living to please God. He says there is a war. Verse 16, I say walk in the spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh sets itself up against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, for these are in opposition to one another so that you may not do the things that you please. He says everybody in here has a battle going on inside of them, and the battle is between the spirit and the flesh.

That is, what pleases me versus what pleases God. That's the simplest way to say it. The flesh is what pleases and satisfies me. The spirit is what pleases and satisfies God. He says do not use freedom as an excuse to live your life in such a way that you live to satisfy that which does not please God. Full-service stations are hard to find. It's hard to find somebody who's going to pump your gas now. Almost everything is self-service. Full-service Christians are hard to find. I'm coming for my blessing. I need God to do something for me. Now that's not wrong, don't misunderstand me. But what he is saying is don't use freedom as an excuse for a self-willed approach to living.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will unpack what the Christian's call to freedom entails when he returns in just a moment. First, though, I want to tell you about a powerful set of resources we put together to help you build on what you're hearing today. It starts with all 12 full-length messages from Tony's current teaching series, Free at Last, a practical, biblical look at how to leave the past behind and live in the freedom that comes with your identity in Christ. In these lessons, you'll discover how to break free from cycles of fear, insecurity, guilt, and discouragement, and begin experiencing the kind of spiritual stability God intended for you.

Along with the audio series, we'll also include Tony's companion book, Free at Last. It's a popular and powerful resource that goes hand in hand with these messages, helping you understand who you are in Christ and how that truth changes everything. We'd love to send you both as our thank-you gift when you make a contribution to support the ministry. But this offer will only be available through tomorrow, so be sure to visit tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222 for details before time runs out.

What would it mean for your church if your entire leadership team returned home renewed, encouraged, and better equipped for ministry? That's the goal of the Kingdom Leaders Summit. This two-day event brings pastors, pastors' wives, and church leaders together for focused training and fellowship with Dr. Tony Evans on April 30th through May 1st at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas. You'll experience panel discussions, breakout sessions, and in-depth teaching designed to strengthen every area of church leadership. It's a powerful opportunity to gain practical insights and connect with leaders who share your passion for the kingdom. Spots fill quickly, so register today at kap2026.com. That's kap2026.com.

Dr. Tony Evans: So what is to keep us from this self-centered selfishness, self-service, me-ism? One of the problems that we're in, this financial chaos and one of the reasons why we are in this situation, is greed. Whenever freedom gets defined as a self-centeredness because I am now free, he says that's not what you were called to. Then what have I been called to? Look at what he says at the end of verse 13. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Through love serve one another.

The freer you realize you are, the greater servant you should become. You will always know a free man or free woman, particularly who's a Christian, because of their servanthood. Jesus said this to his disciples, "the greatest among you shall be servant of all." The freest man who ever lived was Jesus Christ, and he didn't mind washing disciples' feet, and he was greater than the disciples. But because of his freedom, he didn't have to worry about losing his position. When God's people do not have servant's hearts, it is an understanding that they have misunderstood freedom.

He says through love serve one another. Jesus is not looking for fans, he's looking for servants. Folks will come to Jesus and applaud him. If you say the right thing the right way, sing the right song the right way, Jesus will get a hand clap. Show Jesus some love. He'll get an applause, but he's not looking for fans. He's looking for servants. Free people, he says, use their freedom not in self-centeredness but in service. James 1:27 and 28 says that true religion is ministering to the orphans and the widows, and these are folks who can do nothing for you in return.

It's easy to serve folks who are going to serve you back or have the capacity to serve you back, but the better name for that is business. That's not what he's talking about here. He's talking about expressing freedom through a service-minded spirit. The freer you are, the greater servant you should be. You know a person or a church, because he's writing a church here, has developed this servant's spirit when they're doing things on their own without requirement. Freedom, he says, is the atmosphere of service. Now don't misunderstand me. Everybody can't serve everybody. You're only human. But everybody can serve somebody.

There are folks who have been here for years who aren't serving. You don't really come on Sunday to worship service. You come to worship selfish, because it's only really about you. I want to hear a word from God. I want a song from the choir. I want the room to be nice and warm. I want the carpets to be clean. I want, I want, I want, I want, I want, I want, I want, I want, and I'm going to complain if I don't get. And on top of that, I'm only going to give you a quarter. It's amazing. People who want to be served, he says, to experience freedom in the way God had it for the whole law. Verse 14 is fulfilled in one word, in the statement "you shall love your neighbor as yourself."

He says the question you should ask is, is this what I want from my neighbor? Because that will tell you whether it's what you should give. Freedom allows you to serve. Look, my toaster is free. My refrigerator is free. My stove is free. My can opener is free. They're free because I don't ask my toaster to open cans, and I don't ask my can opener to toast bread. I don't ask my refrigerator to cook food, and I don't ask my stove to keep my food cold, because now I would be enslaving them. The reason I would be enslaving them is I would be giving them something they're not capable of doing.

They weren't made to do that. The manufacturer made them. Now all of those appliances I just named are servants, and they are free because they are only doing what they were manufactured to do. Freedom is where you get to do what you were made to do. The worst thing you can do is do something you were never created to do, because you're going to be a failure and you're going to be frustrated. Even if you succeed, you're going to be unhappy because you're operating outside your calling. You and I limit God's ability to serve us if we are not servants, because you were not called to freedom just so you could create a base for you, an operation for you.

Ephesians 2:8 and 9 says by grace you are saved, but in 2:10 he says you're saved for good works, which God hath created beforehand that we should walk in them. He says in love serve one another. Not for what you can get out of it, but what you can give to it, because you're thinking about somebody else. Love. Love is other-oriented. Since I'm thinking about you, I'm going to serve you because I have the capacity to do this. I have the ability to do this. A great Christian and a great church, a free Christian and a free church, is a serving one. What happens when servanthood disappears? Chaos replaces freedom.

Look at verse 15. "But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another." You know what that says? Freedom has disappeared because servanthood has disappeared. So now war comes. There are husbands and wives here today who were not married by the justice of the peace, but by the Secretary of War. We fight, we fuss, we hurt. Is that a free place to live? It's not a free, it's a miserable place to live. The reason why it's miserable is because selfishness has replaced servanthood. It's hard to fight me if I'm serving you and vice-versa. Nobody I know fights good service.

You go into a restaurant. You walk inside the restaurant and we've all seen this person. "Hey, what you want? Follow me. What's wrong with this? I don't know nothing about it." Throw down the food. Boom. No tip. And some of us are bold enough to say, "Man, I'd speak to your manager." It really doesn't matter how good the food is if there's bad service. You'll switch restaurants. Now you'll switch it for bad food, I understand that, no matter how good the service is. But you'll switch it for bad service, no matter how good the food is.

But now somebody who says, "Hello, we're sure glad to have you at our restaurant today. I hope you're having a great day. Seating for four? Okay, follow me." They walk you to your seat. "Here are our menus today. Look, if you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask me and I will try to get an answer for you. And I will tell you, oh by the way, let me tell you about our specials today and I've really tried this and it's really delicious, but we were here to serve you, so whatever you need just let me know and I'll come back and check on you just to make sure everything is okay, alright?"

Now who has ever called a manager on a person like that? Because there's something about good service. There's something about good service that says I want to go back there. He says but if you bite and you devour one another, you eat each other up because freedom has been misplaced for selfishness rather than servanthood. He says then you will be consumed. It was amazing in the Revolutionary War that people who were fighting for freedom held other people hostage. Slavery. People who were fighting to be free from England were holding a whole race of people hostage. In other words, that's a contradiction to freedom.

What was the result of the contradiction to freedom? Civil War, where we devoured one another as a nation. We killed each other, brother against brother, North against South. We destroyed each other and one of the dominating issues in the Civil War, which was the judgment of God on a nation that wouldn't deal with this sin, was its own internal consuming of one another because freedom had been misplaced. People who wanted to be free wouldn't set other folk free. You say but there's so many needs out there. There really are and you certainly can't meet them all.

But you do all the good you can by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in every place you can, all the time you can, to all the people you can, for as long as you can. You do your best. I'm not talking about so much an activity as I am a heart, a spirit, a mindset. Then guess what? You get to experience freedom. Freedom. You are the freest people in the world. But where you have servanthood ruling, the people are free. Enjoy your freedom as servants.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans with a powerful look at the kind of freedom only servanthood to God can provide. As I mentioned earlier, today's message is part of Tony's Free at Last series. Through tomorrow, we are offering all 12 full-length messages as well as his companion book by the same name as our thank-you gift when you make a donation to help us continue this ministry. These resources are designed to help you move beyond past struggles and step into the freedom that Christ has already given all believers.

Call us right away at 1-800-800-3222. Our resource center is open 24/7. Or visit tonyevans.org to request the Free at Last package deal online. While you're there, be sure to sign up for Tony's free weekly email devotional. Again, that's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. The good news of the gospel is that freedom is free, completely available and waiting for us. So why aren't more of us experiencing it? Dr. Evans will share the answer with us tomorrow. I hope you'll join us.