Boundaries vs. Law

While waiting for Ladies Bible Study to get started yesterday, I ran into the Youth pastor at our church. I realized that I had been totally applying what he preached about one Sunday over the summer (took a break from high school kids, I guess!). I decided to tell him how much it meant to me. Then I thought I'd share the thoughts with you. He pointed out that there are definite admonitions in the Bible that believers are to apply to our lives. For example:

Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.


So in our zeal to not cross this line, we create boundaries for ourselves. They may look like "I will not drink any alcohol" or "I will not be friends with people who drink alcohol" or "I will not attend functions that serve alcohol."


James 1:14-15 ...but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

In our desire to avoid temptation, we set up boundaries. In response to the verses from James, we may say "I will not view R-rated movies" or "I will only listen to Christian music, and will read no secular books."

Nothing is wrong with boundaries. They keep us safe. But the rub comes when we take our self-imposed boundaries and place them upon other people, then make judgements about them or their actions. "She drinks a glass of wine with dinner; that is wrong." or "He saw an R-rated movie, how can a Christian do that?" The person's own self-imposed boundaries have become their law, and they are judging others on the basis of their own, made-up law rather than God's commands. I think this is a super lesson for Christians.