Stop Puttin’ God in a Box

Track four, and here the album turns to the system itself. I want to be careful, because this is the song most likely to be misheard. Stop Puttin' God in a Box is not a song against creeds, and it is not a song against doctrine. I hold the doctrines of grace with both hands. It is a song against the moment a creed stops being a confession and becomes a cage - a container we use to decide we have God measured, tied up in a ribbon, called done.

Listen to where the second verse aims. Some folks build their faith with judgments, sortin' people like files in a drawer. That is the real box. Not the catechism on the shelf, but the circle drawn in the dirt: if you don't fit inside my circle, well then you're not welcome anymore. I drew that circle for years. The bridge is the confession underneath the whole song - stop livin' like you've already learned it, heaven knows we're barely scratchin' the surface.

And the chorus puts the truth where it belongs. You can stack your creeds from floor to the top, still won't hold the Lord of the cross. The doctrines are true and they are precious. But they are a window, not a wall. They were given to show you Christ, not to fence Him - or your brother - inside your understanding. Let His wisdom wreck all your plans. A God you have fully boxed is a God you have shrunk down to your own size, and that god cannot save anyone.