Riding the Fence

DAY ONE – INTRODUCTION

A couple years ago a movie came out called Happy Gilmore. Those of you who have seen it know what it’s about, but for those of you who don’t know, Happy Gilmore is a story about a frustrated hockey player who finds himself in the middle of winning golf tournaments. Despite hating golf and everything about it, he continues to play in order to earn money to pay off his grandmother’s tax debt. Being the rebellious hockey player he is, he acts very inappropriately considering the nature of the calm game of golf. He ticks off everyone on the tour with his obscene actions, but because of him the game attracts new youthful viewers and sponsors. I won’t ruin the ending for you in case you haven’t seen it. However, it becomes very clear there is a standard of conduct in the game of golf that Happy Gilmore just didn’t follow.

In golf everyone is polite and courteous to each other on the course. There is a respect that shows through their conduct and how they remain still and quiet so the person putting can concentrate. They also show respect with their dress code. Golfers dress better for the course than some of us do for church! Not Happy Gilmore, though. Not only did he not follow the standard of conduct but he also went against it and did exactly the opposite. He was extremely rude, swore like a sailor, was very disrespectful, and dressed like he was ready to paint a house. He was the exact opposite of everyone else who’s ever played golf.

In this movie there is a fence, a line dividing that which is acceptable from that which is not. And since Happy Gilmore was on the wrong side of that fence, there were some consequences that would naturally follow. The golf community wanted to kick him off the tour, but if you want to see what happened from there you’ll have to rent the movie yourself.

In Christianity, there is also a standard of conduct, a right and wrong side of the fence. Way too many of us try to ride that fence in order to have the “best” of both worlds. We life our lives torn between the two -- half of us on the world’s side and the other half just acting like Christians when certain people are around.

I hear from students all the time asking, “How far is too far?” Sometimes it’s in reference to sexual contact, other times to drugs, and still others ask in reference to swearing and cursing. As Christians, though, the question we should be asking is not, “How far is too far?” but rather “How far away can I get before tripping over that line?” Instead of seeing how close we can get to that “too far” line, we should be running in the opposite direction and doing all we can to get away from it! We should be striving to be as Godly as possible, not trying to get away with everything we can without actually sinning.

Are you currently asking this question, “How far is too far?” with something in your life? If you’re not, maybe you know someone else who is. Read 2 Timothy 2:22 and 1 Corinthians 10:11-13. What do these passages have to say about riding the fence?

In your Spiritual Journal turn to a blank page. Across the middle of the page draw a fence. Then read James 4:4-10. Focus on verse 4, and then label the top half of the page “God’s Side” and the bottom half “The World’s Side.” Think about yourself and who you are as a person. List things about yourself on the appropriate side of the fence. Things like attitudes, thoughts, things you say, how to act at certain places, etc. List these things and everything else about yourself on whichever side of the fence they fit. When you’re finished, look over the things you wrote that are not on God’s side and write what you need to do in order to change those things so they either move to God’s side or cease to exist altogether.