Mass Enforcement

I once watched an intriguing documentary about life in China sometime during the end of the Cold War. Among other subjects showcased, one was how enforcement of the "one child policy" was being carried out.


One Chinese couple had dared defy the government's edict and the wife was carrying their second child. The couple was not hauled off to jail, their home was not confiscated. Instead, all their relatives and other people from their community came over numerous times to lecture these expectant parents mercilessly. I thought about how very hard it would have been to undergo such treatment and not cave in (compliance), especially in a culture in which honor and respect are so very important.


After reading a number of accounts of the defectors from Communism, it seems that this method is actually a preferred one. If someone starts thinking "free" thoughts, use the group to pummel them emotionally until they can't stand the strain and have to give in.


Sometimes I feel too wierd for words.


The decisions we have made, which have profoundly affected the way we live, were not capricious.


First, when we became Christians, it was with our whole hearts. We didn't have all the answers, but we knew we tired of, and most sincerely didn't want our own way, and so we earnestly sought His.


Sometimes it was a lovely thing, sometimes it was like the mess a tiny child makes when first trying to feed himself.


But after many years of studying, seeking, and listening, we began to know without a doubt that God wanted us to take "the road less traveled" in most areas of our lives.


The blessings of such decisions have been multitudinous; we have enjoyed sweet fellowship with God and each other that would not have been possible otherwise. We have seen the hand of God move many times. We have been given glimpses into God's eternal purposes as they are imperfectly played out here on earth.


But sometimes we experience the feelings of that poor couple in China. Relatives, friends, church members, the media, the whole culture tries to keep us living in constant tension. We aren't being hauled off to jail, and our home is not directly threatened, but we still experience the continued onslaught.


I did a really dumb thing the other night.


Since our internet has been restored, I took a little bit of time trying to look up some relatives and old chums on Facebook. The world was rolling on for all of them, the roaring of time could be heard as they were all riding the waves of popularity--all the "friends" and "friends of friends" and pictures of themselves, and sharing every time they stubbed their toes or to yip, yip over getting to work on time--it sort of made me wonder how anyone could have time for actual living while paying attention to all this trivia. It was like the sictom Seinfeld in real life--much ado about nothing.


Then I wondered if our whole American society wasn't being run like high school. We have the "popular" folks, and cheerleaders, and the "pep squad" and the "glee club" and it is all about "school spirit" and little trifles about how we are doing all the "popular" things (without considering why we are doing them, and, more importantly, to what ultimate end).


It's all about "getting along" and being "nice", but not holiness, or self-discipline or anything that could resemble serious, consequential inward reflection.


We are all being led down the deep abyss, but doing cheers and clapping loudly (for what--we are not really sure) all the while inescapably sinking deeper into the darkness.


So I am standing in the sun on the ledge, and here beside me are many others--Fenilon, Tozer, ten Boom, Madame Guyon, Francis Shaefer and many like you who have refused to race headlong into destruction.


We were all made for relationship. We were all meant for sweet, intimate communion; for laughing together and crying together and just living together, but with the underlying knowledge that life is grave, that what we think on will determine what we, in due course, will become, "bad company corrupting good morals".


To walk closely to Christ, to be a "friend of God" is more important than gaining a million friends on facebook or anywhere else for that matter.


My dear, dear son is seriously committed to Jesus. His life is from God, in no uncertain terms. When he was a young man and at home, he began to feel a need for having a friend or two, but he would not compromise his walk with God just to have any old relationship. While being kind and generous to all, he was looking for some honest companionship based upon mutual agreement.


Because He trusted, God blessed him with two other young men who were also committed Christians, and even into their adult lives they are great friends who encourage each other and spur each other on to faith and godliness.


Sometimes when I do a little looking on the Internet I get strengthened. I can find the fellowship there I am missing in my current surroundings. Instead of focussing on how silly I might look to others, I realize how very privileged I truly am.


It is just this; I am not going back, and I am not giving up, and through it all--I am blessed beyond blessing with the sweet comforts of the Holy Spirit--how precious to be held in His arms at times when my heart is to faint to walk on any farther.