Would you do something you thought was right even if you knew there was a good chance it would get you killed?

On paper, it sounds like this should be an easy “yes.” But I wonder, in reality, is it that simple?

What do you do when the high school coach adds mandatory team practice on the same night your son planned to attend the parish youth retreat?

What do you do when you get a promotion at work, then learn one of your first responsibilities is reorganizing a department to eliminate three jobs?

How do you react when adult children want to come home for a few days during the summer, but will want to share a room with their fiancé?

Two hundred and fifty years ago, a group of ordinary men signed their names to a piece of paper knowing fully it could get them killed. They weren’t superheroes or incredible fighters. They were farmers and lawyers and merchants. They signed anyway, knowing they could lose their lives, their families, their land… because they thought freedom had a price worth paying.

It’s because of the sacrifices of bold men and women 250 years ago that we, today, get to be “One Nation, Under God.” It’s because of their sacrifices that we get to worship freely.

Of course, free and easy are two very different ideas.

250 years ago, Catholics were “free” to worship how they pleased. But they weren’t “free” from public scrutiny, sideways glances from neighbors, and lingering suspicions about their allegiances. Catholics were a suspect minority. Twenty years ago, openly practicing any religious faith was often met with scorn. It was popular to be an atheist. If you believed in God, you were considered foolish. Better to keep those “hocus-pocus” superstitions to yourself.

Interestingly, the tide has turned in the past few years, especially with young people. It is now popular to have “God First” in your social media profiles. It’s popular to wear clothing that gives glory to God, to have a bumper sticker featuring a Scripture passage, and for athletes to put crosses in their eye black.

The “freedom” to worship has always been there. And today, “One Nation, Under God” feels easier than it has in my lifetime. But we can’t mistake this moment for a permission slip.

“One Nation, Under God” isn’t a promise that proclaiming the Gospel will be easy. It never was. It’s never meant that anyone has to believe, that the culture would applaud, or that the cost wouldn’t be too steep. In fact, our situation hasn’t really changed at all—from the Apostles to the great saints of history to today. You’ve always been free to worship and spread the Gospel… it was just a matter of what it was going to cost you.

The Apostles were free to worship Jesus and spread the Gospel. But doing so might get them stoned to death. St. Damien of Molokai was free to serve the outcast lepers of Hawaii. But doing so cost him his life. We’re all free to do what we believe God is calling us to do at any moment. But we can’t help ourselves from wondering—what is this going to cost?

True, most of us probably aren’t too worried about contracting leprosy like St. Damien. And we probably won’t be stoned to death like St. Stephen. It might even be safe to post about the faith on social media, if you can believe it!

But what if it costs your son playing time?

Or, what if it costs you being looked over for a promotion?

What if it’s an eye-roll from a neighbor when you mention church?

Yeah, these are small moments. Small prices. But the willingness underneath those moments—the willingness to show up, to love others, to do what God is asking us to do—that’s nothing different than any saint from the past 250 or 2,000 years.

“One Nation, Under God.” It’s a beautiful thing.

You’ve always been free to pay the price. Luckily, we live in a land where that price shouldn’t have to be paid with our lives. But it still begs the question… What price would you pay?