Strong Fences Make Good Neighbors

Certainly not a popular quote today, judging by my quick research to double-check that I had it written correctly. We are to be tolerant, open to all viewpoints, multicultural, full of "positive emotional energy." Pfaugh! Complete and utter nonsense! As confessional Lutherans, for example, we know that God has given us His truth in His Word. As humans still in a sinful condition, we won't always follow this truth, but we always need to look to His Word for the truth, certainly not to other sinful humans. So we need to create a fence, to block out that which would come in to corrupt us, and cling only to God's Word and Sacrament.

On a worldly corollary, my church building also has fences, to help protect the property from being defaced and destroyed. I have gotten the impression over the years that many who claim to follow Christ look rather askance at property rights. Perhaps this comes from the early believers in Acts who chose to live together and share everything among each other. I think more often, we are told to be good stewards of what God has given us. Does this mean throwing our property to the four winds? No, we need fences, walls, locked doors and gates to protect and take care of that which God has given us.

This quote occurred to me originally in conjunction with the current problems on our southern border. I thought there would be more protests today, it being a Hispanic holiday. I should have known that the socialist and communist groups quietly organizing things behind the scenes would instead choose the communist holiday of the first of May. In any case, the fact that we are letting so many people come into this country illegally completely disgusts me. While some argue that building an actual, physical fence along our entire border is not logistically, practically possible, we must have some way to protect the citizens of this country. Letting landowners along the border protect their own property would be a start. If the rights and privileges of being a citizen of this country are not worth protecting, they will soon be not worth having. God help us all when that time comes.

This means something to me on a personal level right now as well, however. I have been battered emotionally for many years by outside family members. Now I am receiving protests and nasty words because I have chosen to retreat for a time. I have locked myself behind a fence to protect myself, my children, my husband, my marriage. My family, the four of us that share these walls, are most important to me. The family is our foundation here on earth. Without it, we have nothing, so I have to protect it first and foremost.

We cannot as Christians always hide behind walls and fences. Sometimes with God's help we must ride forth and do battle with the forces of evil and darkness. But I thank God that we have places of safety, that He protects and shields us through this life. I think fences and boundaries are essential to surviving with others in this world.