Caged Christians

The Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit that has always intrigued me. They called Him An Geadh-Glas, or “the Wild Goose.” I love the imagery and implications. The name hints at the mysterious nature of the Holy Spirit. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger and an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious at first earshot, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to pursue the Spirit’s leading through life than Wild Goose Chase. I think Celtic Christians were on to something that institutionalized Christianity has missed out on. And I wonder if we have clipped the wings of the Wild Goose and settled for something less—much less—than the spiritual adventure God originally intended.

Inverted Christianity
Not long ago I visited what must be the closest thing to the Garden of Eden left on earth. It almost felt wrong arriving in the Galápagos Islands via airplane. Washing ashore on a bamboo raft would have seemed more apropos.

The entire week was full of new experiences. I went snorkeling for the first time and saw some of God’s amazing underwater creations. Where did He come up with those color schemes? In an unscripted and unforgettable moment, my son Parker and I went swimming with some playful sea lions. And I accomplished one of my life goals by jumping off a forty-foot cliff into a narrow river gorge at Las Grietas. What an adrenaline rush!

The trip consisted of one adventure after another. So the saying we saw on a Spanish Sprite can that week seemed fitting and we adopted it as our mantra: otro día otra aventura.
Translation: “another day, another adventure.”

I love those four words inspired by Sprite. They capture the essence of what we experienced day in and day out in the Galápagos. I think they resonate with one of the deepest longings in the human heart—the longing for adventure. And I’m not sure I could come up with a better description of what it’s like to chase the Wild Goose. Take the Holy Spirit out of the equation of my life and it would spell b-o-r-i-n-g. Add Him into the equation of your life and anything can happen. You never know who you’ll meet, where you’ll go, or what you’ll do. All bets are off.

If you would describe your relationship with God as anything less than adventurous, then maybe you think you are following the Spirit but you have settled for something less—something I call inverted Christianity. Instead of following the Spirit, we invite the Spirit to follow us. Instead of serving God’s purposes, we want Him to serve our purposes. And while this may seem like a subtle difference, it makes an ocean of difference. The result of this inverted relationship with God is not just a self-absorbed spirituality that leaves us feeling empty; it’s also the difference between spiritual boredom and spiritual adventure.

Caged Christians
While I was in the Galapagos, I felt as if I were as far from civilization as I could get. Many of islands in the forty-nine island Archipelago are totally undomesticated.  And it was there that I discovered the difference between seeing a caged animal at a local zoo and getting within arm’s length of a mammoth marine iguana or walking a beach with hundreds of barking sea lions or floating above manta rays as they glided along the ocean floor. Listen, it is one thing seeing a caged bird. It’s an altogether different experience seeing a pelican that looks like a prehistoric pterodactyl circling fifty feet above your boat, dive-bombing full speed into the ocean, and coming up with breakfast in its oversized beak.
Few things compare to the thrill of seeing a wild animal in its natural habitat. There is something so inspiring about an uncaged animal doing what it was created to do. Uncivilized. Untamed. Uncaged.

So a few weeks after returning from the Galápagos, our family spent an afternoon at the National Zoo near own home in Washington, DC. It’s a fantastic zoo. But it just wasn’t the same after the Galápagos. I’m ruined for zoos. It’s not the same seeing a caged animal. It’s too safe. It’s too tame. It’s too predictable.

At one point we were walking through the ape house and I had this thought as I looked through the protective Plexiglas window at a four-hundred-pound caged gorilla: I wonder if churches do to people what zoos do to animals.

I love the church. I bleed the church. And I’m not saying that the way the church cages people is intentional. In fact, it may be well intentioned. But too often we take people out of their natural habitat and try to tame them in the name of Christ. We try to remove the risk. We try to remove the danger. We try to remove the struggle. And what we end up with is a caged Christian.

Deep down inside, all of us long for more. Sure, the tamed part of us grows accustomed to the safety of the cage. But the untamed part longs for some danger, some challenge, some adventure. And at some point in our spiritual journey, the safety and predictability of the cage no longer satisfy. We have a primal longing to be uncaged. And the cage opens when we recognize that Jesus didn’t die on the cross to keep us safe. Jesus died to make us dangerous.

Praying for protection is fine. I pray a hedge of protection around my three children all the time. But when was the last time you asked God to make you dangerous?

I would like to think that when I pronounce the weekly benediction at the end of services at our church I am sending dangerous people back into their natural habitat to wreak havoc on the enemy!

 

Adapted from Wild Goose Chase, by Mark Batterson. Multnomah Books, (August 2008).

1 Comment »

1. YAY Mark I love you more every time I read something you write!

   I can’t wait to hear you preach in person now that I’m back home in the WDC Metro Area.

   God is so big we can’t possibly imagine how dangerous he can make us.

   I recently dialed 911 and said, “I’m having a psychiatric emergency.”

   The operator said, “would you like me to send an officer?”

   “YES, NOW!”  I screamed.

   “mam, calm down, it will be okay, tell me what’s going on.”  She counseled

   “I’m home alone, it’s dark, I haven’t slept in ten days, and I’m afraid satan is coming after me.”  I explained

   “PLEASE HURRY.  COME NOW!  I’M AFRAID”  I yelled at the top of my lungs.

   I was shaking and screaming, every light turned on in my apartment, but I couldn’t calm down, I called on Jesus but He wasn’t enough.  I needed more, I needed physical protection.

   Sometimes I get mad at God because I can’t hug Him when I’m happy. 

   He can’t hold me when I’m sad.

   He wasn’t there to protect me in my fear.

   NOW, I know He is there.  I know it.  As a well rested, rational, adult in Christ I KNOW He is ever present.

   Yet,  when I am at my worst, I want more from God.

   In truth, I want more for the body of the church.

   Pastors couldn’t help, my friends in Christ couldn’t help, “we’re praying with you, Dana” but you need to see a doctor.

   NO ONE COULD HELP.

   I threatened the police officer, “I will kill you if you are satan!”

   I asked, “prove you are an officer of the law, how do I know, how do I know, how do I know you are real?”

   “mam would you like us to take you to the hospital?”  the officers asked.

   “Yes, please.”  I replied.

   “Place your hands behind your back.  Do you have a weapon on you?”

   I obeyed and answered, “no sir, I will not hurt you.  I am afraid.  Thank you for helping me.”

   “Do you have shoes to wear?” they asked.

   “yes” I said.

   They picked up the first pair they found in my bedroom, “will these work?”

   “no, I want to wear the pink ones.”  I replied.

   “Do you have identification?”  they questioned.

   “I do, in the bad in front of you.”  I directed as my hands were cuffed behind my back.

   I asked, “will I need my keys to lock the door?”

   “are these them?”  they officer held up the keys.

   “yes”

   I was escorted by armed police protection, out of my fear.  God sent His servants to help me.  God works through us all.  Everything happens for His good.

   Just wanted to share. 

   Always hard to know what forum is right for my testimony.

   I was Baker acted into the psychiatric hospital for my own protection.

   I lost a few days when I’m sure I was medicated.

   The nurses told my family I got behind the nurse station and tore up paper throwing it all over the place. 

   I have no knowledge of this.

   I supposedly took off all my clothes and kept trying to leave my room.

   YIKES!

   Again, no clue, no memory.  It wasn’t me doing those things.  I’m certain it was the drugs they injected me with.

   I have a very low tolerance for alcohol.  I have never even smoked a cigarette, let alone tried a street drug.  I’m a dork and a square and a straight “A” student.  I’m a Virgo and a perfectionist, a classic Type A personality, and a performer that enjoys being on stage.

   God is doing something big in me, for me, and through me. 

   Pray with me as He reveals more clearly His purpose for my life.

   YEP, it’s all true….

   WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

   One final question, medically I am diagnosed as “paranoid schizophrenic”.  Simplistically this means I have delusional thoughts.

   As a believer, how do I accept a fear of a satanic attack as a delusion?

   I think I acted more rationally when I was exhausted and frightened than I did after being “taken into custody” and medicated by want to be doctors who don’t know crap about Jesus and His saving power.

   I actually threw my bible at one said doctor and screamed, “you have know idea how to help me or the other patients here, read this you idiot and figure out how to do your job!”

   I believe I am healthy and blessed by Jesus.

   What do you think?

   My family thinks I’m nuts and wants me medicated.

   It’s a lonely road, I travel for Christ.

   Thanks for listening online world :-)

   God’s got me under control, this I am certain! 

   Dana

   Comment by danamj79 - Oct 22, 2008 @ 07:36 PM

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