(I am taking yesterday’s blogpost and overlaying references from the Bible for each of the “13 Chains That Bind Us.” The vision is something similar to a biology book where the human body systems are depicted in overlapping clear plastic pages. This allows the teaching to be read from a specifically Christian perspective or from another perspective.)
Freedom is obtained when we find our way out of the chains that bind us and restrict our understanding of reality. Below are 12 significant chains that I have been bound by, and that I see restricting others. It is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather a starting point for awareness building.
Money
The 90’s band The Verve said it best in their hit song “Bittersweet Symphony”:
“It's a bittersweet symphony, this life.
Try to make ends meet
You're a slave to the money
Then you die.”
Enough said for now.
“No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
- Luke 16:13
“Success”/Hard Work/Busyness
For many in Western culture, this is THE chain that binds (in conjunction with “money.”) How many spend most of the days of their adult lives putting on uncomfortable clothes, fighting traffic, and slaving away for 8-12 hours at a job they don’t enjoy and resent? Once this chain in broken, the flow of freedom accelerates.
“Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them... Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.”
- Matthew 6: 26, 28
Physical Insecurity
The world can certainly be a dangerous place. But anxiety over potential injury or death can bind us and limit us. This is a tricky category, and finding the balance that nurtures greater freedom in the context of relative safety is a lifelong challenge.
“God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, through the earth should change, thou the mountains shake in the heart of the sea, through the waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.”
- Psalm 46: 1-3
Low Self-Esteem/Self-Confidence
Believing you can do something doesn’t guarantee that you can do it. But believing that you can’t do it certainly means that you won’t. Especially if you believe that the reason you can’t is because of a personal flaw or deficiency. Breaking this chain is often the very first step on the path toward greater freedom.
“I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom but on the power of God.”
- I Corinthians 2: 3-5
Body Image
For women (and increasingly for men), the “low self-esteem” chain is often coupled with struggles with body image. Even those who are considered good-looking can be driven by internal anxieties over their appearance that limit greater freedom.
“So God created humankind in God’s image... male and female God created them... God saw everything that God had created, and indeed, it was very good.”
- Genesis 1: 27, 31
Sexual Repression
Too much here for one paragraph. This is a huge barrier to freedom in American culture, tied in with a number of other categories.
(I have yet to find a good Biblical reference for this category. The traditional view of sex and sexuality that has been found on Christianity is one of the big chains that limits freedom. More will be said on this topic.)
Fear of Death
Related to physical safety, but in a less immediate way. “What happens to me after I die?” This simple question that every child thinks to ask drives some of our deepest anxieties, especially when it comes to religious belief.
“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe with me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes with me will never die.”
- John 11: 25-26
Fear of A Relationship Ending
Most powerfully in romantic and marriage relationships, but also in parent-child and other types of relationships. Co-dependency creates the sense that one’s well-being and happiness is dependent on another person, which creates extremely limiting anxieties when that relationship is threatened. Greater freedom is found in cherishing relationships, but also understanding that we will be OK should one come to an end.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
- Ecclesiastes 1:1
- Ecclesiastes 1:1
Patriotism/Nationalism
Perhaps the most relevant example of ultimate loyalty being given to a non-absolute, human created entity. Nations may be useful as political tools, but they only exist in our collective minds. The fact that many are willing to make their national identity their primary identity, and even die for their country, indicates a huge chain that limits our path to freedom. Ironic, huh?
“Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” - Mark 12:17
“Whether we live or whether we die, we belong to the Lord.” - Romans 14: 6
Consumerism
In the relative affluence of modern Western culture, many have come to believe that self-worth and a sense of security depends on the material possessions that are owned. Our consumerism binds us into attitudes of selfishness and anxiety over losing our “stuff.” Greater freedom lies not necessarily in a life of poverty, but in an attitude toward material goods that is more giving and non-attached.
“There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then, come follow me.”
- Luke 18:22
“What Others Think About Me”
Many never grow past the adolescent hyper-awareness of what “other people are thinking about me” that drives so much insecurity. Even those who have reached a place of greater awareness can fall back into this heightened social anxiety in certain contexts. When we realize that most of the people we meet in the world are wrapped up in their own concerns and aren’t thinking about us at all, these invisible chains give way to a startling realization of freedom and opportunity.
“Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.”
- Genesis 3: 7
Expectations From Others
Related to “what others think about me,” but in a more personal and long-term sense. What our parents hoped we would do with our life. The things our spouse would like to change about us. The level of productivity the boss demands. These expectations are real, but they can bind us if we don’t learn to self-differentiate and operate out of our own sense of self-worth and purpose.
“The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established.” - Proverbs 19: 21
Permanent Adolescence
Again, too much to say in one paragraph. Except that we are more and more becoming a society of adults who are emotional adolescents. A huge chain that feeds into many of these other categories.
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.”
- I Corinthians 13:11
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