Kem Meyer wrote a great post this week, “What do you do when it collapses?”. What happens when we look to work, to our accomplishments, to our expectations, or to other people to give us our worth? It may be great for a while. Then it all collapses. What we relied on, what we trusted and what gave us our identity falls apart. Where do we turn then?
Matthew Paul Turner talks about “cages” in his book Provocative Faith: Walking Away from the Ordinary. He defines a cage as “anything that keeps us from being completely free…cages often keep us from pursuing the hopes and dreams Jesus has placed in our hearts.” We all have cages in which we hide, fall back into, get comfortable, or look to for protection.
Ever heard (or said) things like this before?:
- I want to move away from partying, but I don’t want to lose my friends.
- I want to stop yelling and screaming, but to maintain control takes so much effort, and sometimes it just feels good!!
- If I go to church, do everything right, and am a good person, then I will be happy and everything will go as I plan.
- I want to stop turning to drinking, drugs, eating disorders, self-injury, sex, whatever other addiction, but I can trust they will work!
- I know this person isn’t “Mr./Mrs. Right” but they make me feel good and what if no one else comes around?
- I want to step out and try, but there’s no way I can succeed. I’m not good enough. I know I will fail. I can’t do it.
- I can’t admit I screwed up, I’m the boss and how would that look?
Whether we are locked inside our “cages” or are relying on belief systems that can fall apart, we are being held back. To quote Kem Meyer, “Many times our sense of reality can get so tied up, polarized and distorted it is almost impossible to see which beliefs are working and which are holding us back”. From Matthew Turner, “cages often keep us from pursuing the hopes and dreams Jesus has placed in our hearts.”
Breaking free is not easy. It takes courage to confront ourselves and look at what beliefs and what cages are ingrained in us. Yet, we can’t fully love, completely give, be humble, or pursue and embrace the dreams until we do. Climbing out of the cages and having faith in a belief system that is solid gives freedom. It gives freedom to be who we were created to be and freedom to step into someone else’s life and make a difference. It’s tough, but it is so worth it!!
Filed under: Books, Christian life, Church, Evangelism, Faith, Health, Ministry
Rindy, I’m curious, have you identified any “cages” in your life as you thought about these things?
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I know for me, a specfic Church Denomination was a cage @ one point in my life…as I began to grow spiritually, I wrestled w/staying or moving on in the denomination we were married under (and my wife’s family was connected to)..in the end we did leave, but not w/o much inner turmoil.
Later, in another local Church setting, while I agreed w/ the doctrine, the heavy handed leadership was so toxic I felt in a constant state of turmoil….leaving that church (dare I say cage) was one of the hardest decisions of my life…because virtually all of my close friendships were also in that church….talk about groping to regain your bearings…in the end, those choices have made me much stronger and secure in my personal relationship w/ God…like the old song goes…”though no one join me, still I will follow”. For me , I’ve felt like God brought me to those forks in the road, those crisis moments to sift and purify my relationship with Him.
I kept thinking about the verse in Mark 9 as I read this post… “I do believe but help me not to doubt”
I think my cage is my doubt. I believe – but there is this fleshy annoyance in me that white knuckles everything…my hopes, dreams, aspirations. God has been gently breaking me of this thought pattern here recently. It’s been painful – but it is so much needed.
Anyways – this is how your post spoke to me – and God continues to speak as well…
Self-injury was a cage for me. It was a small cage within a larger cage of self-control. Relying on myself and not looking to God for strength. A friend asked me – if you are in control and take responsibility for everything, then what do you need God for? That person was right. If you try to do it all then there is no need for God in your (my) life. I’m trying to turn the keys to the cage over to God and to put my trust in Him and not myself. Thanks for the great post and reminder.
Thank you for posting this one.
Thanks for the good post. I particularly like the last part. “It gives freedom to be who we were created to be and freedom to step into someone else’s life and make a difference.
I say Amen!
Thanks,
Richard
Great stuff very encouraging thank you!
[...] do I change my perspective to allow me to have a better relationship with authority? I learn to love my boss. Firstly, what is [...]
Guilt is my cage. I was brought up in a fundamentalist church, and the message I heard was that most things were my fault. (I left to become a Presbyterian PCUSA when I heard their message of grace — you do the confession in the beginning of the service, then you move on to how to serve God.) The guilt stays with me, though. The worst thing is how it keeps me from seeing what the real cages are.
How do you have time to read and report on all these books?
DM–I used to have a LOT of cages, warped beliefs, and all of this. My beliefs were built on what I was told and shown over and over through many years. Through all of that, I learned many things to trust and rely on (’crutches’)–you name it, it was probably one I have dealt with.
The most difficult to overcome has been the belief/cage of not being good enough/doubt. However, even that one is disappearing!!! God has brought some wonderful people into my life who have shown me differently and through them I know Jesus and my security is in Him. And now the journey begins…
Anne–I love to learn and my mind never stops (that’s good and bad
). I usually have a book wherever I go! I love it!!
My cage was/is your a “girl” “woman” “female” your not suppposed to “act like that” “do that” “be that.”
Then one day Jesus said… “Come” then he said “Go and bring some more.”
He didn’t care that I was a “girl” “woman” “female.”
Gal 3:28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians– you are one in Christ Jesus.
29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and now all the promises God gave to him belong to you.
I think self evaluation is one of the hardest things in life to do…to be truly honest with yourself-about yourself. It’s one of the THE most important things when it comes from breaking free from your cage (or your excuses for your behavior). GREAT post! I’m glad I stopped by today.
Focusing our eyes on Jesus is the only way to truly be humble and strive to live the good life. For each of us that will be different, but without hope in Christ I don’t know how some people make it through their days.
[...] steps to freedom Jump to Comments Rindy, over at Experiencing the Journey, posted about “What’s Holding You Back”. She said that we’re all in our cages, so to speak. Here’s an excerpt of what she said, [...]
I just linked to your post and quoted you…hopes its okay.