Fences and Walls

I was thinking yesterday, recalling a Christian song from the 1970s:

Good fences make good neighbors,

But a fence the church don't need.

And the Spirit's moving in the world

To bring His Body back in unity.

Fences and walls have their place and use, but the church, the Body of Christ, is not such a place. The fences the song spoke of are the excuses and pretexts Christians too often use to avoid acknowledging their brothers and sisters in Christ, to avoid fellowshipping with them, and to avoid serving God together. The song does not envision a Scripture-ignoring-and-denying Kumbaya-fest, just the kind of love, fellowship and shared service Jesus envisioned and commanded for His people.

The kind of walls I spoke of are deeper, walls we've each built within us, to isolate and "protect" us. Too often we put up prettified walls, facades we imagine make us look nice, cool, spiritual, together and so forth. By keeping people from knowing us, the real us, we evade real spiritual growth and real fellowship relationships. Growth comes in acknowledging what we are - imperfect and unique - and letting others be God's helpers and our partners in changing us, making us more like what God wants us to be. Growth comes in providing that very same loving service to our brothers and sisters - rather difficult if we are busy hiding.

Can we work a bit at tearing down some of our fences and walls, OK?