Dear Trekker,
There is an old saw back in Indiana I learned as a young boy: “Good fences make good neighbors.” Fences define boundaries and protect property, keeping some things in and some things out. As you know trekker, I like to talk about relationships as the essence of life. But relationships are meaningless without boundaries.
When Jesus matter-of-factly responded to Pilate in the most remembered court case of history, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews…” he was establishing and clarifying the boundaries of life and conduct for His followers. In this month of November, the month of elections and Thanksgiving, we would do well to ponder on the significance of boundaries in all aspects of life.
Some years ago, one of you, over a morning breakfast, asked me if I was familiar with “Boundaries” by Cloud and Townsend. I said I was not. My friend gave me a copy. (Zondervan Press, 1992, get a copy post haste) It went on my book shelf and stayed there, I am embarrassed to admit. But this fall, while friend wife and I were hanging out with our son and daughter-in-law in Germany, I spotted the book on their den shelf and devoured it. What a feast! It has really impacted me… and will you.
Life is relationships. The Gospel, the good news, is about reconciliation and healing. But that is not all… we reenter through the love and cross of Christ the created order, in how things actually are. There are boundaries to truth! Boundaries define unity. Harmony in any discipline or dimension or fellowship is only realized when boundaries are observed, accepted and lived out. If you are ever standing alone on any issue, take stock… you may have strayed outside the boundary of fellowship. How does this play out in modern day America? The political process in our country is defined by the Preamble of the Constitution, and fleshed out in the various Articles. To effect the parameters of the Preamble, among other prerequisites, we hold national elections. As citizens, we vote, and if we understand the boundaries of our form of government, we are obliged to do so. We are also obliged to accept the results!
On the morning of November 8 there were a lot of sad conservatives… as well as happy liberals. ‘Happy or sad’ was dependent upon the boundaries they believed had been reaffirmed by the outcomes of the returns the day before. e.g., if one were to place his faith in government as savior, it would appear he would be happy. But too many Christians were distraught! If one truly understood Jesus’ words, “my kingdom is not of this world” then expectations would not have been so high, and we might have even shrugged. Now, I am not advocating apathy toward the political process. But our faith is not in government. Government alone does not solve life’s problems; it can only regulate or modulate issues that perpetually plague us. No political party is our savior! We will never realize “your Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven” through the ballot box. God’s boundaries explicit in creation will not permit government to heal all of life’s economic and social wounds.
It is so good to have Thanksgiving follow the national election ritual. I do pray that as a nation and a people with Christian roots, we will celebrate and be thankful for what we have and not dwell on what we lack or feel cheated out of. The Pilgrims clearly dug more graves than they built huts that first year of Thanksgiving. But they thanked God for the abundance of the new land. And they quickly understood some given boundaries of life, for example, recognizing the boundary of individual incentive to increase production.
Our kinsman, the Apostle Paul said it well and often: “Rejoice in the Lord always”… “in everything give thanks”… “pray and petition with thanksgiving.” The Psalmist too speaks eloquently… “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” (Psalm 100)
Our relationship with Him, and with each other, is defined by the bounds of our thanks! Bitterness and gratitude are mortal enemies. Bitterness is the outer boundary of defeat and disappointment. Gratitude is the inner core boundary of celebrating life. Where one exists, the other cannot. Since both are highly contagious, we intentionally must choose gratitude before becoming too thankless to do otherwise. One of the greatest boundaries in all of life is the necessity for death to self before service to and for others. But be aware; a sense of entitlement is incompatible with selfless service to God and country.
In recognizing these boundaries of life, we must realize they permit the relationships of life we most covet. Good fences have gates for appropriate access and are easy to talk over. (Every Tim Allen needs a ‘Wilson’ to speak truth over the fence of life! It will lead to ‘home improvement’ in all our lives.) Fences that completely separate people might as well be called ‘pharisaical fences’… they don’t make good neighbors, and they create isolation, distrust and dissention.
In a post-modern age, thank God for Scriptural boundaries that define healthy relationships, ultimate reality and eternal truth! Every viable relationship must have them. Men, know your boundaries. And if you don’t, define them quickly! Then follow them. Perhaps our greatest boundary, trekker, is to be made in the image of God and to forever seek to be like Him!
Thankful for and celebrating Life,
Jim Meredith
