Cutting the Chains

I got a couple funny looks recently when I walked into my Bible study group with a pair of bolt cutters in my hand. I quietly set them against the wall though without any explanation. You see that day was going to be the day I finally cut the chains that had been holding back my faith. My past prejudices would finally be broken and my heart would be free at last!

About four years ago my wife and I were very involved in a mission project with our church. Blue Valley Christian Church would periodically house homeless families through an organization called Interfaith Hospitality Network. Our role was to turn the church’s classrooms into temporary bedrooms and otherwise make the church a hospitable and welcoming place of rest for the families. During one of our volunteer group meetings someone presented the idea of putting a picnic table and/or chairs out on the church’s lawn so that our guests could enjoy the beautiful evenings outside during their stay. I thought this was a great idea and knew that Costco was currently selling folding picnic tables so I offered to pick one up for our next host week. It was a really nice table and cost us a couple hundred dollars so at the time I felt some apprehension about leaving it outside unsecured. Even though the church is in a community with a fairly low crime rate and there was no history of theft I thought the picnic table would be easy pickings for a would be thief. I discussed this with my pastor who tried to reason with me saying, “I guess if someone steals it then they must need it worse than we do.” Seeing the troubled look on my face after saying this he quickly receded and offered to secure it to a tree or something that same day. I was glad he came to his senses and protected our new purchase.

As my faith grew and as time progressed, however, I would periodically see that chained picnic table and reflect on how that made me feel. While providing the table was a gesture of hospitality chaining it to a tree seemed like a gesture of distrust. I would repeat in my head what my pastor had said to me, “I guess if someone steals it then they must need it worse than we do.” It began to bother me but never enough for me to do anything about it. “Oh well”, I would think to myself, “it’s not a big deal.” As I got more involved with the church and as I began to study the Bible more these feelings strengthened. The breaking point for me, though, came during one of our Bible study group sessions. We were studying the teachings of Jesus in the book of Luke and came upon verses 6:27-36 which reads:

27 “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them.33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that.34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full.35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (New International Version, Copyright 1984 by Biblica Inc.)

Upon reading that I immediately thought of the picnic table just outside the building which I had chained to a tree to protect it from would be thieves. How can I call myself a disciple of Christ and yet disregard the teachings of Christ? I realized at that moment what I had to do. So that very next week I brought my bolt cutters and after our Bible study I went out and cut those chains that had been there as a constant reminder of my prejudices and distrust. Now I could have hunted down the key to the padlock and saved a perfectly good chain and lock. But at this point my act was more symbolic of where I was on my faith journey. For too long I had had my head stuck in the sand, so to speak, and never fully lived out the love of Christ. So I cut the chains to free myself of this past and release my heart to experience an awakening of the living Christ in me.

I have to believe that this chained picnic table had greatly bothered my pastor all this time too. He would have walked by it every day going into his church office. He probably could have argued with me about securing it but perhaps he knew it would be better for me to learn this lesson for myself. He recently concluded a sermon series on Exodus talking about how the Israelites were freed from the slavery of the Egyptians only to find themselves wandering in the desert. I have been able to relate this story to myself and the chained picnic table. I felt a sort of release after cutting the chains and have since been on a new path always looking towards the promised land. So in a way I feel this is my own personal Exodus story.


P.S. My pastor since made a comment that the very next day he noticed a passerby stopping to rest at the picnic table. Come to think of it I don’t ever remember seeing strangers use the table before I cut the chains. Something to ponder for sure.