The Nature of Christian Boundaries

I recently celebrated my twenty-first birthday, and among all the good-natured jokes from my friends about my hypothetical inebriation, I couldn't help but ponder a certain aspect of the human condition.  In particular, it intrigues me how people seemingly gravitate toward their limits.  It seems that no matter what the context, humans are naturally drawn to the farthest point they are allowed to go.  This tendency seems almost idiosyncratic, though it is certainly common to humans of any background.

The main question dogging me in this study is, "Is there anything wrong with dwelling just inside your limits?"  It is not necessarily a question to which I wanted to know the answer, because if it turns out that that answer is "yes," I will need to reconsider the attitude with which I approach many different situations in my life.  Yet, it is certainly a worthwhile question, and one that comes up rather often in the Bible as well.  Therefore, I have set forth what I believe is a helpful discussion on the nature of Christian boundaries here.

The Root (or maybe "Fruit") of the Problem

The first place in the Bible where I see this issue of boundaries is right at the beginning, in Genesis.  As you might already know, God spent a week creating the world and getting everything just right for His creation.  He worked everything out down to the last detail, and then put human beings (at this point consisting of Adam and his wife Eve) in charge of a few things.  They were free to enjoy all that the paradise of Eden had to offer, save one thing:  they were not allowed to eat the fruit of a certain tree.  Simple enough, right?  Well, if you know the story, you know that it's not as simple as it sounds.

Personally, I like to think that if I were in the same position as them, I would make it my goal to stay as far away from that tree as possible.  Maybe put a mile perimeter around it that I would only cross in dire situations.  I would totally avoid any fruit that even resembled that which hung from the forbidden tree.  This might even have been a good plan.  But it's likely I could have never followed through with it forever.  And, of course, Eve looked up one day to find herself near the forbidden tree.  But she was not alone.

It is clear that the serpent intended for Eve to wind up near that forbidden tree.  That way, his temptation would be all the more potent.  The immediacy of the fruit meant that once tempted, there would be almost no time for second guesses, for considering the consequences of eating the fruit.  Instead sin follows temptation in rapid succession: "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it." (Gen. 3:6a)  And don't think that Adam is exempt from this lack of sound judgment: "She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it."

And thus begins the story of man's descent into sin and depravity and God's painful salvation.

Be Like Christ

When you think about it, we are oftentimes quite a lot like Eve.  Christians who clearly recognize their boundaries sometimes make a habit of dwelling near them.  "'Everything is permissible,'" says Paul (I Cor 10:27), "but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible'—but not everything is constructive." We normally use this verse to discuss actions which should be outside of the Christian life, but I feel it applies equally well to things which it is all right for Christians in general to do.  Take, for instance, consuming alcohol.  Very few people would argue that it is a sin for a person of legal age to drink (speaking, of course, in the broad sense, and not including drunkenness, which is a sin- Gal. 5:19-21).  So I am perfectly within my rights as a Christian to have an alcoholic drink every now and then.  But would this be beneficial or constructive?  In many situations, it simply is not.  Despite the fact that the action within itself is not sinful, if I choose to drink regularly, being this close to a boundary necessarily presents me with many more opportunities to cross over that boundary.  All it takes is one depressing day to start a cycle of drunkenness or an accidental one too many drinks to create a completely different situation where my foggy resolve is too weak to resist another temptation.

Instead of defining our actions by their limits, I suggest an alternative.  Let's be like Jesus!  This is, after all what Christians are by definition meant to do.  Hebrews is very clear that Jesus "has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin." (Heb. 4:15)  How was Christ able to overcome all this temptation?  Not by staring it in the face day after day.  According to the gospels (Matt. 14:13, Mark 1:35, Luke 4:42, etc.), Jesus regularly prayed by Himself, withdrawing from the temptations of the world.  Also, it is clear that while Christ did not hesitate to associate with sinners, His actions set Him apart.  Can we try to be more like Him?

Instead of flirting with our boundaries like so many Christians are inclined to do, let's have the same attitude that Paul espoused with regard to sexual immorality: "Flee from sexual immorality." (I Cor. 6:18a)  These are strong words, but I agree with Paul whole-heartedly.  If a temptation is strong enough for you that you have to set a boundary for yourself, get as far away from that boundary as you can!  Are you struggling with gossip?  Commit to only saying uplifting things about others (or nothing at all).  Is pornography a temptation for you?  Turn off whatever internet-connected device you're reading this on (it won't kill you) or find an accountability partner and some serious accountability software and attack the issue.

Seriously, people.  Sin is not something to mess around with.  All of us make mistakes.  But believe me, you will feel a ton better if, when your resolve wavers for a moment, you are still inside your boundary.  Even if you do happen to cross the boundary, the occurrences will almost assuredly be less frequent.  It is worth it to save your soul.

I have so much more I would like to write, but this discussion is long enough as it is (and I've got to be getting to bed soon).  Please do consider this subject and ask yourself if there are any boundaries in your life you should be running from instead of running beside.  Satan can be clever, but sometimes he simply plays off of our naïveté.  I'm not saying that you should become an ascetic and erase all ties to the world.  But I am challenging all of us to live wisely and be the best reflections of Christ that we can possibly be.