Drawing Lines

Sometimes the Vines overtake the Lines.
Photo cred to Shannon and/or Me.

Been thinking about the MECCA again.  And I’m realizing that the MECCA is very good at drawing the proverbial "line in the sand.”   

Taking a stand.  Fighting like a warrior.  Dying like a martyr.   

Why are we so quick to draw lines?  Why are we so quick to call activities Good or Bad?  More importantly, why are we so quick to identify people as Them or Us?  And why do we withdraw from the “Them” so quickly?   

I’m not saying that it’s wrong to call something Bad (‘cause that’d be self-contradicting, sillies).  But I’m not sure that our eagerness to condemn something as “Bad,” or that our stringent, sterile, hands-off way of dealing with “Bad” people/things is healthy.  Sure it makes a lot of martyrs.  But are they necessary martyrdoms?  And are the martyrs the only victims?  What if we’re accidentally cutting ourselves off from people who God is moving in, only we can’t see the movement because it’s on the 3^rd Dream level?   

How did we get so darn trigger-happy, anyways?   

Maybe as children we accidentally OD’d on inspiration posters, the kind that said “Stand for Something or you’ll Fall for Anything” or “What is Popular is not always Right, and What is Right is not always Popular.”  They frequently featured a Bald Eagle or a school of Clown Fish, with one little guy swimming alone.  I used to fixate on those posters during English class, specifically on the lonely fish.  I identified with the lonely little fish, fighting for justice.  Accordingly, I took an oath to always “stand up for what’s Right.”   So when the teacher left the room and the other kids wanted to turn off the lights before she came back, I was the kid who got up and flipped the lights back on.  And I was the kid who coughed whenever someone swore.  Not surprisingly, I became the martyr I knew I was destined to be.  The lonely fish.

Ok, enough sob story.  The point is, when I was heavily involved in the MECCA, I was the best line-drawer of them all.  I drew lines everywhere, I took a stand constantly – even in Youth Group (because nowhere was safe from the influence of evil)!  And I alienated myself from people.  Because I thought I was called to be a martyr.

Fast-forward five years, and I’m a very different person (and I blame a lot of this transformation on my pursuit of film).  I hate alienating myself from others.  Not that I’ve given up on figuring out what’s Good and what’s Bad.  But I think I am called to a redeemed life, not to a painful death.  And life consists of community (even God exists as a Trinity).  So I am much slower to withdraw from a group of people, even if they’re doing something I think is Bad.  (Honestly, I just want to be friends with everyone!)  And theoretically, I should be able to connect with everyone, right?  I don’t think any person is so lost that there is absolutely nothing to affirm in their hearts, to commune over and build identity over.  I now see more traces of God in people and ideas (and movies) than ever before – even in the “bad ones!” 

So I’ve gotten to the point where I’m wondering “what’s the point of drawing lines of demarcation in relationships?”  Is there ever a point where I have to walk away and say "Sorry, but I cannot be in relationship with you, because of this specific issue."

The thing is, ultimately, there is a line.  There is Right and there is Wrong.  There is Salvation and there is Damnation.  That’s why we draw lines.  The problem is, I’m not sure the little mundane lines we draw are always legitimate descendents of The Eternal Line.  And it’s dangerous to give illegitimate degenerates the full weight of The Eternal Line.  It can crush people.  Besides, what if The Eternal Line isn’t actually a line at all?   

A line implies dualism:  God and Not-God.  But if we want to maintain that God created the universe and is sovereign (however you define that), then we can’t affirm dualism.  Evil is not the opposite of good, it’s the decay of good.  Just as a lie usually has a bit of truth it in, so evil contains a little bit of good.  But lines can’t recognize an amalgamation.  They can't see the tiny bits of good in the bad, they can only write it off as "outside the fence."  And so lines put up blinders, restricting our ability to see God at work in the world.

Maybe we should stop drawing so many lines.  Or at least recognize that our lines are not always off-shoots of The Eternal Line.  Maybe we should admit that we don’t see too well in the grey areas of life.  Maybe we should allow more room for grace and the movement of the Spirit.