The Cows Didn’t Know They Weren't Free

A few months ago, I traveled to San Diego, and while we were there, we had the opportunity to tour a dairy farm.

We saw thousands of milking cows living on grassless land, fed through feeding fences and housed in a way that meant they were literally living one on top of another.

As we moved through the tour, the guide explained that these cows had all been born on the farm. They didn't bring cows in from other farms. Each cow had a predetermined rotation from the beginning of its life to the end.

They were born and kept with their mothers for a set amount of time. Then they were moved to another area to live with the cows they would spend the rest of their lives with. When they reached breeding age, they were bred and moved to another part of the farm. Each stage of life had its place. Each move had its purpose.

Eventually, we were taken to a balcony overlooking the milking area.

Below us, the cows began walking.

One after another, they moved in a straight line toward the milking stations.

There was no resistance.

No cow tried to go another direction. No cow was running. No cow was protesting. There was no frantic mooing or attempt to escape.

One cow simply followed the next until they all filed into their assigned places.

The guide explained that the cows actually wanted to be milked. The weight of the milk became uncomfortable, even painful, and so twice a day, without fail, the cows willingly walked from one area to the next.

They had learned the system.

They knew where to go.

They knew when to go.

And they knew what would happen when they arrived.

I have a few cows of my own. They have wide-open pastures. They are petted, loved, and treated like part of the family. They each have their own sassy personalities.

As I drove past the cows in each section of that farm, I couldn't unsee the people I encounter every day.

I began to see us.

We are born into a system.

We are fed a certain way.

We are led from one place to another based on our stage of life.

We are told where we should go, what we should pursue, what success should look like, and what we should desire.

Eventually, many of us become dependent on a weekly paycheck because the weight of the debt we carry has become so heavy that we desperately need someone else to relieve the pressure.

And we are grateful.

We are grateful for the system that feeds us.

We are grateful for the handlers who tell us where to go.

We are grateful for the structure that keeps us moving.

We are so grateful that we often assume this must be the best life available to us.

We are sold a bill of goods called the American Dream, but the reality is often visible in our tired eyes.

We have no open fields.

No time.

No margin.

No choice to do something different.

And sometimes, no ability to fight back because we have never been shown that another way of living is possible.

The cows outnumbered and outweighed their handlers by an incredible margin.

If they had decided they wanted something different, they could have stopped.

They could have resisted. They could have run.

But they didn't know they weren't free.

That thought has stayed with me. Those cows' faces are forever etched in my mind because, somehow, they spoke to me.

When I decided to resist the culture I had been handed, I felt free.

But I also felt alone.

I felt passionate, but helpless to free the people I loved.

I could see the cage, but I couldn't make anyone else see it.

And in that place, I began to understand more deeply the message Jesus and Paul preached about the Kingdom of God.

A new kingdom.

A different way of living.

A kingdom of freedom.

The early church understood something we have often forgotten. They were not confined to buildings, programs, systems, or professional spiritual handlers. They carried the gospel into all nations. They grew their spiritual family through personal relationships, shared lives, and the story of Jesus.

Of course there were hardships. They were heavily persecuted and their lives were full of struggles. .

But there were not cages.

There were not formations designed to keep everyone moving in the same direction.

They had a true freedom we don't understand today.

Because truthfully, the devil does not want us to be free.

He wants us dependent on the world while calling that dependence freedom.

He wants us to rely on another person to feed us physically and spiritually.

He wants us to become so dependent on the system that we are not only grateful for the weight to be lifted, but desperate for someone else to lift it.

But the Kingdom of Heaven is freedom.

It is wide-open pasture.

It is the freedom to run, lay down, explore, work, rest, and play.

It is the freedom to become what God designed you to become.

It is the freedom to think critically.

The freedom to ask questions.

The freedom to wrestle with difficult things.

The freedom to question, yes, even Him.

Because a God who is truth does not need us to be afraid of honest questions.

I am so ready for the Church to break free. I am so ready for the Bride of Christ to stop being tamed by the systems of this world. I am ready for her to become fully alive.

Untamed.

Uncompromising.

Burning with passion for the Kingdom of God.

A Kingdom that sets the captives free.

A Kingdom that brings sight to the blind.

A Kingdom that calls people out of darkness and into light.

A Kingdom where we finally realize that the gate has been open all along.

The cows didn't know they could be free.

And I wonder how many of us are standing in an open field, waiting for someone to tell us that we can run.