The Chains That Aren't There

In 1967, psychologist Martin Seligman conducted a groundbreaking experiment at the University of Pennsylvania that revealed something heartbreaking about captivity. Dogs were placed in a chamber where they received mild shocks they could not escape. Later, when moved to a new chamber where they could easily jump over a low barrier to safety, most of them didn't even try. They just lay down and whimpered. Seligman called it "learned helplessness." The barrier to freedom was gone, but the animals had internalized the belief that escape was impossible.

Here is what stunned the researchers: when they physically guided the dogs over the barrier again and again, showing them that freedom was real and available, the animals finally began to move on their own. They had to be taught that the old reality no longer applied.

I wonder how many of us are living in a chamber we could walk out of. Paul wrote to the Galatians, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." The chains have been broken. The penalty has been paid. The barrier has been removed. Yet we lie down in old shame, old habits, old identities, because learned helplessness has taught us that nothing will ever change.

But the Good Shepherd does what those researchers did. He walks us to the wall. He shows us the other side. And He says, "You're free now. Move."