For an hour, I have sat at my computer desk and stared at the blank page of Microsoft Windows, pondering what witty and insightful words I might share with you. My secretary Dawn has put me on a deadline. The clock is ticking, and I have not an idea, not a thought in my head.
This forum is one of those areas in which I have pretty free reign. I can write here just about whatever I chose to, nearly any thoughts on just about any topic, and most of you are too polite to disagree or criticize. There is no formula, no handbook of topics, no professor to give me an assignment to fulfill. Beyond common sense and fundamental morality, I have no limits, no rules, and no guidelines. And therein lies the problem.
The millions of topics and ideas that I could broach here, the countless number of combinations of letters, words, sentences and paragraphs, the absolute freedom from any kind of restraint serves as an obstacle, a hindrance of its own kind. All this liberty is too overwhelming, and I just don't always know what to do with it. With an unlimited number of choices, I know not which to choose first. I want to choose them all at the same time. And because the choices often hide their consequences, I hesitate to choose anything, for fear of choosing poorly. (Don't worry, this will make sense soon.) All this ambiguity is too much for me to deal with.
If there were some parameters, if there were someone to look over my shoulder and give me a direction, well, that would be wonderful right about now. If there was a handbook published for pastors that need to write for a monthly newsletter, then I would have no problem. Last week when I was in Atlanta for seminary, I was brilliant. The professor gave us the assignment, I knocked out four pages of sheer awesomeness, and came home happy. There were some parameters, some instruction there. There were limits and direction. Back home on a Tuesday morning with no rules, I feel like a blithering idiot in my absolute freedom.
When I drive up Flowing Springs Road, I always stay in the right hand lane. I always stop at the red light and go when it turns green. I always wear my seat belt and occasionally I abide by the speed limits. These are the simple rules for good driving. We know the rules, and when all the drivers abide by the rules and limits, everybody gets home safely. Sometimes we break the rules and get away with it, sometimes we break the rules and tragedy hits. But we still have some rules and we know what they are. And the traffic laws are necessary for us. If we had no rules, we wreck our cars weekly. And hurt ourselves and one another.
In a world of no rules, no limits, no restraint, we have uncertainty, ambiguity and danger. A large part of the Bible gives us instruction in how to live well, and I am grateful for it. Can you imagine of God never gave us any direction about how to live in light of His love and grace. It would be like in the days of the Judges, when everyone did what was right in his own sight. With some limits and guidelines, we have direction and clarity.
So when Jesus says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and Love your neighbor as yourself, (paraphrase Mark 12:29, 31) that gives us a simple direction about how to live this Christian life. It is good for us. When Paul says, Put away all your bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking and malice, but instead be kind to one another, tenderhearted and forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you, (paraphrase Eph 4:31-32) that is clearly some instruction that limits our behavior and gives us a good direction to move in. A few simple rules, limits, parameters for our behavior and attitudes.
Our faith is clearly much more than a bunch of rules for moral living. But we do have some limits to what behavior is appropriate and acceptable, and what is not good for us. And the limits are good for us, and help us to abide in His love and grace, and to live peaceably with one another.
I heard a story a few years back about a new elementary school that had been built. The playground was bordered on two sides by a busy street, and as the children went out for recess, the traffic would go zipping by. Because the school year began before everything was completed, there was no fence around the playground. The children were uncertain about how close to the road they should be, so they all stayed huddled close to the building. Recess was not much fun.
Within a few weeks, a chain link fence was installed around the schoolyard. The chain link fence made boundaries for the children, limited the distance they could get to the street, and kept strangers off the property. And all the children were able to roam and run and play throughout the playground, safely and within the limits, and have a tremendous fun time at recess.
Blessings to you
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