Free People: Are Dangerous People

There's an edge and a danger to things we can't control.

I find this most clearly when I think about the weather.  We can't pull the puppet strings of the clouds and tell them when to gather and when to scatter.  We can't push away the raindrops and tell them to come again some other day.  We can't wave away the lightning or woo the sun to appear from hiding.

Years ago, I watched a storm surge on the beach in Panama City.  I was huddled up with my sister and brother-in-law, and we watched the gray, misty fog encroach upon the white sandy getaway of our condo's beach.  The waves crashed randomly but beautifully, like a diminished chord on the piano.  Through the splattering rain on our balcony window, I saw a section of the water start to turn.  It was thin, and it spun faster and faster as it moved horizontally and parallel to the shore until it had formed into a whirling waterspout.  I scrambled to try and capture it on video, because it was one of the most wildly wonderful and beautifully terrifying things I'd ever witnessed.  It continued perfectly shaped a little down the beach, until the elements that had so artfully pieced it together fell quickly apart, and it disassembled into the rainy abyss.

It was lovely because it was wild; it was dangerous because it was free.

Like the turn of a tornado or the howl of a hurricane, free people are dangerous because they can't be contained.

I love the story of Paul and Silas being imprisoned.  During their ministry, they were unceremoniously thrown into jail, and though their bodies were chained, their hearts and their faith could not be caged.  They sang into the night songs of worship to the Lord, and as they did, their shackles fell to the ground, and their cell was opened.  The guard was terrified--how could they have possibly escaped?

What the guard didn't realize is that you can't contain a free man.

I used to love Pastor Mike Glenn's description of Jesus' frustrating nature--people get upset with Jesus "because he doesn't stay where you put him."  If you put him in the grave, he'll end up in the garden.  If you put him in the corner, he'll march right into the center of your life.  If you put him on the backburner, he'll charge into the front.  That Jesus, he's a dangerous one because he can't be contained.

He's free.

And like the wild nature of a tornado, be it in the plains of Oklahoma or the green pastures of Tennessee,

Free people are free no matter where they are.  No matter where someone puts them.

Though the world can shackle your body, only you can shackle your soul.

So what about you?  Are you enslaved or emboldened?  Are you belted to a life of chains?

Or are you free to roam about the cabin?

I hope we can put a little danger to your name while we explore all the ways to live free.  Come along!  You're in for a wild ride.