Broken Fences

2008 was packed full of memorable events for many of us. One event that sticks out in my mind was the torrential rains and catastrophic flooding that occurred all through the Midwest. Some say it was a "500 year flood" meaning we won't see flooding like that for another 500 years!

The reason this event sticks out in my mind, though, is not because of the historical significance or even the mind-boggling amount of water that we saw. This event is memorable because of one short conversation on a Sunday morning.

At the time of the floods, my Mom had about 20 cattle on her place - a beautiful 125-acre farm that's fenced off in two separate 40+ acre plots for the cattle to roam. These plots each have two places where the stream that runs through her property goes under the fence to provide fresh water for the cattle. The downside is this: Every time we have high water...especially a 500 year flood...the fences get wiped out.

This happened 4 times in a six-week stretch last summer.

We found ourselves rebuilding the same 4 sections of fence 4 different times. Sometimes when it was blazing hot with unbearable humidity, other times slogging through mud past our ankles.

One of these flash floods came through on a Saturday night completely devastating all four "gaps", as we call them. Mom had called a friend of ours to come help rebuild the next morning. Sunday morning.

This man is the kind that would do anything for you - anytime, anywhere - yet, he doesn't claim to belong to any church. I can remember the day like it was yesterday. The sun was bright and the air was clean. The kind of clean that only comes after a rain like that. It was the most glorious day I can remember.

As we began to clear away the debris that had lodged itself in the barb wire, the verse from James 1:27 hit me, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...". I realized at that moment that I could have been sitting in a pew somewhere listening to a great sermon about how we should help widows in their distress...or I could just get out and do it.

When I shared this with my friend, it started a great conversation about what being a Christian is all about...and what its NOT about. I learned from this conversation that my friend doesn't have a problem with God. Its the actions, attitudes and behaviors he's seen out of some of his "followers" that has him confused.

A person who never misses a church service yet talks about his neighbor with a judgmental tongue is sending a mixed signal to the world.

A person who sings in the choir on Sunday yet cheats in his business would lead one to ask the question, "why do I need church if those who attend act like everybody else?"

A person who will argue theology with you but shun those in need around them causes those outside the church to get as far away as possible.

And I don't blame them.

Jesus didn't come to establish a religion. The Pharisees had that under control. You get a great glimpse into what Jesus feels about religion when you read Matthew 23.

He hates it.

There would have been a time when I would have felt guilty for "working" on Sunday...and there would have been plenty of modern-day Pharisees to reinforce that feeling.

But not this day.

This day, I realized that "religion" that God accepted as pure and faultless was helping a widow in need and having a God-ordained conversation with someone who acts a lot more like a Christ-follower than some who claim to be.

This day was worship.

Its not the act of going into a building on Sunday or belonging to a certain organization that makes you a Christ-follower. Its surrendering to Christ and letting Him work through the "everyday-ness" of your life to make a positive difference in someone else's life.

I'm really glad its not my job to determine "who's in" and "who's out" when it comes to heaven. I see some who have done all the "right" things, said all the "right" words, and show up every Sunday to "worship" yet what they hear on Sunday makes no difference whatsoever in how they live their lives the other 6 days of the week.

On the other hand, I see my friend who I've never heard say a bad word about anybody, would give you the shirt off his back, and is always there to help, yet doesn't have anything to do with "church" because of the impression he's received from those who go.

I understand that its a belief in Christ and the acceptance of his work on the cross that saves us and not our deeds but, there has to be a point in our lives where that belief transcends our old nature and make us more like Christ and less like our old selves. When others see Christ working in our lives, they will be drawn to Him, not pushed away.

We can be in church every time the doors are open, be on boards and in choirs, but, if people aren't drawn to Jesus by how we live our lives outside of the organization, we're nothing more than modern-day Pharisees. Again, see Matthew 23 for insight on what Jesus thinks of these guys!

May you see that God wants more than your Sunday mornings.

May you see that worship that God accepts as pure and faultless may just happen where you least expect it.

May you see Him in the simple conversations and the necessary tasks of your life.

Most of all, may your preconceived notions about what a Christ-follower is...and isn't...be rooted in relationship, not religion.

Next - A New Point of View