See? I know the boundaries.
Do you live your faith life within a frame?
I hadn’t thought about that aspect until I met up with a friend from my childhood several years ago.
26 years had passed since we’d last seen each other (curiously, in line at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics!), and we met at a Starbucks to get a look at each other.
She was as clever and fun as ever, and of course we talked about the books we read–both then and now.
But she was aghast to hear I was a Christian. “Why? How?”
I smiled and thought before answering.
With the grace of forgiveness, I have found being a Christian liberating.
“I see the Bible as providing a framework within which to live my life. God provides the frame–the borders–and then I’m free to make my life whatever I want within the frame.”
She shook her head and we went on to other topics.
Free to live in God’s frame
I’ve thought about that description often in the intervening years (and yes, we’re still in contact) and I like it.
“Boundaries” of course, is a topic often discussed in Christian circles, in part because of the Townsend books, but I like to remember a story I heard while raising small children.
The gist is, kids need a boundary, a frame, to feel secure.
Obviously you need boundaries to play a sport
Years ago, a new school deliberately did not fence in the playground. The earnest parents and administrators wanted to give the children a sense of freedom–that they did not need to be hemmed in.
But something peculiar happened when they released the children for recess.
They stayed close to the buildings to play their games.
The wide open areas which beckoned to adults, frightened the children.
They weren’t sure of the limits and rather than test them, they remained where they knew it was safe.
(I’m sure there were several children who ran all over, but the majority of the children huddled close).
This, of course, was the opposite of what the site planners had envisioned.
How could they reassure the children a sense they could play everywhere?
They put up a fence around the perimeter.
And then the children felt free–and safe– to play all the way over the area up to the fence.
They needed to know where the limit was.
I see my faith in the same sort of frame.
I know the Ten Commandments. Jesus’ teaching and the new (as well as the old) testaments, is the background for my life.
I know where the lines are drawn and what I should steer clear of.
But because I know that frame of my life, I feel perfectly free to exercise my beliefs and actions within the frame.
I can “color” my life with bold speech and writings, just as long as it doesn’t violate the Bible.
It’s helpful to know where that line is–as well as to recognize when I’ve crossed it.
Because then, I merely have to confess the sin (of crossing the line, falling short of the mark), and I’m forgiven.
And totally free!
Tweetables
Living a faith life within a frame. Click to Tweet
The secure advantage of a playground fence. Click to Tweet
Boundaries, the Bible and freedom. Click to Tweet
Great post, Michelle!
This post was wonderful, Michelle. It reminds me of a friend who walked up the street to where I lived as a young child, and she did not understand why our home had a front yard fence. She wondered why my brother and I were kept inside the fence and wondered if we ever got out. I never questioned it. My brother and I were kept safe from cars, wandering mean dogs, and bully children. Once we came home from a visit at my grandparents and a lady had jammed her car into our fence. We cried about our sense of loss about the damaged frnce. It was a beloved security object.