Straddling the Fence

Imagine in your mind's eye a beautiful green meadow. There are farm animals wandering around: sheep, cows, the occasional horse so you hear their sounds in your highly attuned ears. Smell the grass in all of its sweetness. See that fencing over there? Walk toward it in your mind. You can see that its sturdy, even if it is a bit rustic. Not one of those perfectly formed plank fences. This one has spots that are higher near the posts and lower in the middle due to time in the sun that caused it to sag just a bit. You decided to climb over to the other side. As you raise one leg over the crosspiece you soon realize that it is higher than you thought. Now you have one leg touching the ground on the side you approached from and one on the other side, unable to make it all the way to the ground beneath. This is what they call, "straddling the fence." Part of you on one side and the rest of you on the other.

Listen to Paul's words to the church in Corinth and imagine yourself straddling that fence again (2 Corinthians 6:2-7):
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God. 

Look at that list again: it's like Paul's saying, "Do you want the bad news or the good news first?" The bad news in that on one side of our faith fence the tough stuff; on the other side of that same fence are the good gifts. They go together. He goes on to make it more explicit (6:9-10). We have to manage a whole lot of fence straddling as followers of Christ:

treated as imposters              standing in the truth

unknown                                  well known by God

dying                                         fully alive in Christ

punished                                  but not killed

sorrowful                                  always rejoicing

poor                                           making many rich

having nothing                        possessing everything

This is the call to discipleship in Christ. The call to straddle the fences of this world that looks at us with dirt and ashes on our heads and mutter to themselves that we are weird, unusual, foolish even. To be an ambassador for Christ is to do our very best to live like he lived and to die to old selves so that all may know the joys of his life and love. Be not afraid, for the Lord your God is with you! On both sides of that tricky fence!