I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I've got to tell you this upfront, I pretty much want to plagiarize this entire post. I don't think I can explain this concept better than Mark Steele did in his book flashBANG. I love books, and being a life long Christian who attended a private Christian school means I've read my fair share of Christian books, and this one is one of my favorites. I laugh every single time I read it, and more importantly, I learn something new every time. I mean, the book's secondary title is "How I Got Over Myself." It's like it was handwritten just for me! So, as soon as you can, I highly suggest going and picking up a copy for yourself. You won't regret it. But wait till you've finished reading me first! (See? I still have so far to go!)


The thing that always grabs me by the face and slaps me is his chapter called "The Effect of Cages", or "Hamster, Thou Art Loosed!" It is as wonderfully epic as the title would suggest, and flips so much of what we've been taught forever on its head. So answer me this, what's your first thought when you picture cages?


I picture this fantastic antique green cage we kept my bird Heathcliff in growing up. It's tiny. I couldn't imagine living in one. Some picture Christianity, what with all the rules and regulations in the Bible. I think that's probably why the Grace message is becoming so popular today. We want to stop being associated with the old man with a long beard sitting on a cloud, waiting to strike us with a lightning bolt the moment we mess up, and start being associate with the God who is the very definition of true, pure love.  So we're told from the youngest age to "Reach for the Stars!" "The Sky's the Limit" and "Get Out of Your Cage!" We're raised to believe that we, especially Americans, can and should have absolute freedom to go about and do whatever we feel like doing. We've gotten Women's Liberation, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Sexual Revolution to clear the path for us to do whatever the Bleepedy Bleep we want. And in someways, that's wonderful!


It is about time that people are seen as equals. ALL PEOPLE. It's a good thing that sex is no longer this taboo subject that can't be talked about. I know that's hard for some of you to hear, but God obviously created it for a reason, and apparently He made it pretty fun. Unless He's a cruel God, which I don't believe, He thinks it's a good thing too. 


But the problem is, we're us. We screw EVERYTHING UP! We take these freedoms, and we stretch, bend, and break them to include freedoms that God never meant us to have. Not because He didn't think we couldn't handle them, that we would have our eyes opened to how "awesome" the World is away from Him, but because outside of the freedoms He's given us, there are consequences.  Did you know that SCIENCE is now saying that couples who live together before they're married or at least engaged are much more likely to get divorced? SCIENCE. We've been told forever that the reason God doesn't want us to "get our freak on," is because He's some odd control freak, and that living with a person is one of the best ways to know if you're compatible. Well, you've now been Scienced. (Any HIMYM fans?) Turns out, the Big Man had a reason for the whole wait till you're married thing. 


So what are we to do? Stay in our little Christian Bubble, safe and shiny? Nope. Not only is that impractical, it's selfish. We need to, to paraphrase Mr. Steele here, "live in both worlds. Spread our wings in one, while finding our source in the other. After all is said and done, we must return to our coverless cage, because even though our "free reign" is limited there, it's our home." 


You see, it's in embracing our cage, or parameters, that we find true freedom. "Following Jesus is irony. Always has been. Be last to be first. Give to receive. Be weak to be strong. Get in your cage to get out of it. Get under His freedom to get over yourself." We have to swallow our pride, and just simply get over ourselves. Take the freedom, that sweet, priceless freedom, and take it with us wherever we go.  Because that is where true freedom lies.


P.S. Just an added bit of goodness: "If you feel enslaved by Christianity, you are still trying to attain goodness instead of living in freedom by a radical, supernatural grace." A timely tweet from another Lauren.

I sincerely do want to thank all of you for reading and sharing my ramblings. This month alone I've gotten more 1,200 views, which is crazy, because this is me, and my total views are only slightly double that! So thank you, thank you, thank you!!! And for real, go and get Mark's book. He's much funnier and articulate than I am.

It's Somewhere in the Murky Middle...

Some of you may not understand ditches like us Minnesotans. I have a feeling the people of the South do not have an intimate knowledge of their local ditches like we do. It's not that we're horrible drivers, though you might think so during the first snow. I like to think that all the cars that fall in are from recent migrants, who just don't get ditches and driving in snow like we do. We can handle the craziest weather. I remember for one New Year's Eve, heading about an hour north in a blizzard that literally had the snow up to my bumper in some spots. It was easy, because I know my way in the midst of snow. I know how to take a wild tailspin my car has started, and to turn it into an awesome turn that gives me the false idea that I can be a stunt car driver. We know tricks to get our cars out of ditches, the best ways to avoid them, and so on. The number one way to stay out of a ditch? Stay in the middle of your lane. You're welcome.

We have our fair share of ditches in life as Christians. I think the majority of the fighting that takes place among us comes from them. We end up using them as bunkers to protect us, instead of trying to get out of them. We set up shop, start nesting, and claim to be in the middle of the road, but in reality, we've become almost a quicksand, sucking others in. 

And so we hear sermon after sermon, lecture after lecture, read blog after blog, begging, pleading with us to leave our trenches, to come to the middle of the road. But it's difficult to remain in the perfect middle on issues, and often we simply run. We leave our ditches, the arguments, and we trade them in for pleasantness and appeasement. It's deceptively calm, easing us into a passive state. Instead of picking a side on an issue, we just avoid them altogether. Some claim that this is tolerance, that it's loving your neighbor as yourself. That we're supposed to turn the other cheek. I call bull.

Christianity is not a passive religion.

Jesus stirred up mobs. People hated Him. Did you forget? He didn't mince words, dance around sticky situations, try to appease. He went about what He was called to do. He did so in Love, but He still did it. We need to take lessons!

I do realize that I started this out saying we need to get out of our ditches, but I may have forgotten to mention that there are many things we can learn from them. Each ditch was made because there was something to be learned there. And that's equally true of the ditch on the other side. The ditch that says that since God is Love, we have no need to fear or care about what we do because He will forgive us anyway, and the ditch that says God is a fearsome God, sitting on a cloud, waiting to strike us down with a lightning bolt, well, they are both partially wrong, and right! We have a God who Loves us, who will forgive us, but that doesn't give us a license to sin. He's a jealous God, who wants us to choose the best. He is mighty, worth of all Praise, Glory and Honor, not someone to be messed with. 

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we need to stop avoiding the ditches, and start learning from them! To appreciate the good points that can be found on both sides. And most importantly, take them back to the Bible and see how they stack up against what's written there. Because we won't get anywhere, holed up in our ditches, or off the road entirely. We've got to find the good, solid middle, and go!

Thank you all for reading! Seriously, it's overwhelming to me that you all take the time to read my ramblings. I want to give a shout-out to all of you who found me from my guest post over at Cory Copeland's blog! I'd love to get to know all of you, so comment away, send me an email, or follow me on Twitter!

What?!

So, this is craziness. I'm guest posting today! So, head on over to MadtoLove.com, and check it out!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and survive Black Friday!

           Lauren Jean