The Parable of the Chains by Davin Dahlgren, August 1998 I woke from my slumber to find myself in the midst of a burdened people. The men and women walking the streets around me were laden with heavy burdens I had never had the sight to see before. Every one had huge chains draped round the neck and hanging down to bind the arms and entangle the legs. These were chains forged in despair, each link created by an attitude of defiance against God. These were self-imposed burdens, weighing down every man and woman I saw. Hate, bitterness, envy, jealousy, lust, pornography, lies, murders, theft, gossip, adultery... the poison of thousands upon thousands of selfish acts dragging down their spirits. My heart was pierced with compassion. Though they had entrapped themselves, they had no means by which to free themselves. I went into a church and saw more men and more women. These too were burdened with chains. These chains hung heavily on them and prevented them from lifting their hands in praise. They sang mournful songs of a longing for another world. They were desperate for a rapture, but did not know that the chains which they bore were far too heavy to allow them to lift off the ground. Then I saw weights hanging from the chains, making the burdens even heavier. These weights were the idols that their hearts loved dearly. Some idols were jobs in which they placed their trust and sense of security. Some idols were other people they clung to for love and security: friends, lovers, leaders. There were other idols, too. There was money, to which they turned to solve all their problems — or would, if only enough could be gathered in one place. There was television, radio, movies, books, and music — all forms of entertainment to which they turned for relief from the nagging emptiness of lives devoid of all meaning and the realization that they were too lazy to search for any. There was the church itself, which preached fit, form, and function instead of Father, Son, and Spirit. There was the Bible, to which they turned for guidance and for comfort and for justification of other idols too dear to part with. And of course, there was Self — the biggest idol of all. This was the prototype for all the other idols. This was the idol from which the chains were formed. Moment by moment, the chains grew longer as the idol of self was worshipped, and the chains were long, for self consumed the whole heart. When I saw these chains still weighing down people who should be preaching freedom to others, my heart broke. In anguish I cried, "Almighty God, free your people!" Suddenly, the Lord appeared in our midst. He held out His hands and we saw where the nails had pierced Him. A woman fell to her knees and said, "Here, Lord, these are the things which I have loved more than You. Forgive me. I don't want them any more." The Lord looked into her eyes and smiled broadly. "Now is the time for your healing." He touched her face and she fell to the floor, dead. The pastor of the church ran to the Lord shouting, "Stop! Stop! You must not do this! This is completely unbiblical! You don't manifest your power in the world any longer. Not until your kingdom is established will your power be at work in this fallen world." The Lord laughed, "My Kingdom is already established. I am holding this fallen world together. If I weren't, it would have disintegrated into nothing ages ago. The Bible is full of things you fail to see, blind guide. I will heal and I will save now as I have always done." Then the Lord reached down and grasped the woman's hand and pulled her to her feet. She was alive with His Spirit. Her chains and idols remained on the floor at the feet of her Lord. At last she was free to dance and sing and praise God to high Heaven. The pastor tried to quiet her and calm her. "We must have order! God is a God of order! There must not be such outbursts in a worship service!" Meanwhile, I fell to my knees at the Lord's feet as did several others. "Take my life also!" The Lord touched our faces and we died; each one, and left our chains at His feet. He raised me in His Spirit and I saw that the pastor and several of the elders had put the Lord inside a large box. "You just don't work that way!" They shouted angrily. As they shouted, the idols of doctrine and theology which hung round their necks grew just a little bit bigger. The Lord stood meekly in the box where they had placed Him to constrict His movements and ensure His conformity to their ways, and smiled. Then more people began to come to Him and He healed them even from inside the box. Those who were healed shouted with joy and the Lord led us outside where we walked together in fellowship and freedom and we preached the good news to all who were in bondage. [Return to Spiritual Studies]