Be Free or Die

“I will be free or die.”

The words spoken in the movie Harriet struck me to my core. Sitting between my mother and my twelve year old daughter, I was struck by the story of an American icon and hero.  She loved her family and her people so much, she risked her life repeatedly, going back into slave territory over and over, to lead slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad. 

I didn’t hesitate to take my twelve-year old daughter to see the film.  It was gritty in spots, but I want my daughter to read books and see movies about history that are true.  If anything, this movie was tame in the depictions of slavery.  

I appreciated the fact that Harriet Tubman’s faith was not taken out of this depiction of her life.  She knew slavery was a sin.  She knew God.  She prayed.  She spoke to Him.  She loved Him.  She would rather have died than to remain a slave. 

At one point in the movie, she is addressing leaders of the Underground Railroad.  She explains to them the realities of slavery and the dangers of getting “comfortable” and “waiting for a war.”  She knew that suffering would continue unabated for thousands of slaves; that continuing to lead slaves to freedom was a risk worth taking. 

I heard a missionary tell my church a few years ago that, “There are more slaves today that ever in the history of the world.”   The reality of the sex-trade and sex-slaves is not in our face as much as slavery was in the face of those living in the south during Harriet Tubman’s life.  It is hidden in the profit-making businesses of porn, drugs, and prostitution.  We don’t see the children sold into slavery today at our local Walmart, but they exist today is numbers we struggle to count.  We don’t see the horrific videos of child sex-slaves on prime-time television.  The videos are hidden online, and we only occasionally hear of the “busts” by law enforcement as they uncover child porn. We joke about Epstein in memes  and get fired up about the “Me Too” movement, but rarely seriously consider the reality of more slaves now than in history.

Harriet Tubman lead slaves to freedom.  “I will be free or die.”  How many could we bring out of modern-day slavery today if we felt the same way?  

Harriet Tubman’s faith led her.  I was reminded, in the midst of the movie, as she was called “Moses,” about the story of Moses...  and the story of Jesus.  Moses led the Israelites our of slavery in Egypt.  Harriet was nic-named aptly.  I was also reminded of Jesus.

Jesus leads all that accept Him out of slavery.  Like the leaders of the Underground Railroad, I think Christians become comfortable.  We forget we were slaves; slaves to sin, slaves to our earthly nature.  Some of us have been redeemed from horrible bondages.  Some of us were addicted.  Some of us were murderers, thieves, adulterers, profane in our very nature.  Some of us were just lost, angry and confused, emotionally bankrupt.  We were slaves.  

“I will be free or die.” 

The quote takes on a new connotation when we remember Jesus freed us from slavery. He freed us from bondage.  He freed us and we are free indeed.  And like Harriet, we need to understand that there are still many living in the scourge of slavery, both physically in modern-day slavery, and spiritually.  

Don’t get too comfortable.  Our freedom has been bought, but we were bought for a high price, and many others still remain in bondage.