In
The Avengers, Loki says, “Freedom is
life’s great lie.” I am inclined to
agree with him. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “free” as “not under the control
or in the power of another.” In our
world, it is impossible to be completely free—that is, to not be controlled by
anyone or anything. The Bible teaches
this truth, which agrees with Loki’s philosophy.
The
Bible says, “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as
obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which
leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness” (Rom.
6:16)? When we accept the gift of
salvation which is freely offered through Jesus’ death on the cross, we are set
free from sin so that we are no longer obliged to submit to temptation or
experience guilt (Jn. 8:32), but we are giving ourselves as slaves to God and
his righteousness (James 1:1).
Sometimes
true freedom can be found in confinement.
There was once a playground behind a school with a high fence around it
to protect it from the dangerous road which ran by there. School officials had the fence taken down so
that the children might feel freer. In
the absence of the fence, however, the
children began to only play on the portion of the playground against the
building—furthest from the road—because they were afraid to play next to the
road where cars drove by so fast. The
fence was put back up, allowing the children to play across the entire
playground. The fence gave them more
freedom.
Likewise,
bondage to Jesus Christ is true freedom (Jn. 8:36, Gal. 5:1, 2 Cor. 3:17). Loki wishes the same thing for
humankind. He sees the world striving
for “freedom,” and in that freedom falling into turmoil and discontent (2 Pet.
2:19). He sees that humans would be
happier—and freer—if they were united under an authority. Tom Hiddleston, the actor who plays Loki,
affirms, “It is reassuring when we are well-led. Winston Churchill was a great leader and the
British people and the Allies of Europe loved following him. … Loki has come
down saying, ‘I understand this about human instincts. You actually love following more than you
love leading. I’m going to lead and
you’re going to follow. It’s the
unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation.’ Except that he’s terrifying and made of
hate. So he’s playing on something which
is true and making it something incredibly wrong and tragic.”
“You
were made to be ruled,” Loki says to the people in Stuttgart. “In the end, you will all kneel,” (Phil.
2:10) to which a brave old German man replies, “Not to men like you.” The flaw in Loki’s philosophy lies in his
setting himself up as the king, when
the only true king is Jesus Christ (Mat. 27:11, Jn. 18:36f). In submitting ourselves to his authority we find true freedom (Jn.
8:36).
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible,
English Standard VersionÒ (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
