Planning FREEDOM TOUR 2020 was tricky.
Our team absolutely believes we’re called to support the kids at the HOME OF HOPE. We take that seriously, and their needs didn’t disappear with a global pandemic. We also care deeply for the community that’s formed around riding bikes to support these special children.
So we did our best to keep riding bikes in the face of COVID restrictions. We worked with local health officials and modified our plans. We did everything we could to make sure our events were safe – for our riders and volunteers, for those we encountered, and for our community.
You know what we didn’t do? We didn’t demand our freedom. We didn’t complain that health officials were infringing on our liberty or denying us our constitutional rights.
We didn’t do those things because Jesus asked us to love our neighbors and put their needs before our wants.
You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only don’t let this freedom be an opportunity to indulge your selfish impulses, but serve each other through love. All the Law has been fulfilled in a single statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus talked a lot about doing what’s right, never about demanding our rights. He cared about service and sacrifice, not power and control.
Love, service, sacrifice, humility – Jesus’ version of freedom depends on counterintuitive traits not usually associated with the individualistic notion of freedom that pervades American culture.
This isn’t about claiming the FREEDOM TOUR did anything above-and-beyond. We were simply willing to endure a little inconvenience to avoid endangering others and possibly placing any further burden on already-stressed nurses and docs.
Lots of attention these days toward those stomping their feet and demanding their rights.
We’re just trying to get it right.