PRIVATE! KEEP OUT!

For several weeks now, everywhere I go, I see new security fences going up. It seems that everywhere you look someone is trying to protect their property and their families by installing these tall heavy iron bars that only open if you have access to the security code. And why not? Why not put a barrier between you and the world? Why not protect yourself from intrusions and possible trouble? Anyone can see that this is the best way to make sure you are protected from the evils that abound around us. Open access is just too risky and leaves you wide open for people to show up unexpectedly.

On the other hand, I am constantly amazed at people who don't think about locking themselves away behind the security gates. I even have a few friends that don't even lock the doors on their home except at night when they sleep. Their home is open to anyone who may need a place to rest or just to hang out for a while. They do not fear the unknown or the possibility of intrusion. They welcome the unexpected guest and trust God to protect their home and to use it as He sees fit.

What is so sad to me in this is that I know people who's hearts are as well protected as their homes. Closed off behind the gates of bitterness or anger where no one can come near. Maybe the gate is called fear or grief. Sometimes it is shame. Whatever the gate, it has been closed tight and the code has been hidden from all others and only the owner knows how to open it. They don't open it because that would leave a chance for others to get in, to get close, and to see what they have hidden. Other's might not understand or might judge too harshly what they find. Still others might take parts and destroy the security that they felt in hiding behind their bars. Opening up and letting others in would just be too risky, too real, too dangerous. Plus, what if they opened up the gates and let others in and were found to be unlovable and unwanted?

I feel we have all in some way put security gates up in our lives. It is so hard to let others in to those sacred places where we are true to ourselves. It is much easier to let others admire us from the road and see what we want them to see rather than what is really inside. I know for me it is. I can be who others expect me to be. I can play the part and keep the persona up but be afraid to let you know the me that is insecure and lonely or scared and bitter. Only a very few have ever been let in that close. Only those who are safe and that I trust to love me for me with all my faults and scars ever get to see those parts of me.

I can't help but think what a difference it would make if we could open up those gates. If we could invite others in to our lives and let them see who we really are. If we could become involved in each other's lives, live through the joyous times and the painful times together, and learn to appreciate the differences in each other, what a difference we would see! It seems to me that instead of cultivating these relationships, we have put up all those signs that yell "KEEP OUT! PRIVATE PROPERTY! NO TRESPASSING!" and have left our relationships with others as cold, shallow and unfulfilling. Even sadder is when our relationship with God is also cold and shallow. We slam the gate and protect ourselves from the slightest advancement in to our space. After all, it is OURS and now one else would ever appreciate or understand all that we have stored away.....But what if they did? What if they actually would benefit from us being open and inviting? What if we found that our lives, open and accessible, could mean more and help others while also allowing us to grow?

God created us for relationship. He wanted that with us and created us to have a relationship with Him and with others. If we hide a part of us from others or from our Father, how can we ever fully enjoy the life we were called to live? What kind of witness are we if we can't love each other with our imperfections and scars? How would the outside world ever see Jesus if we are afraid to let them in? Whether in our own personal lives or within our church walls, we can't afford to put up our security gates and keep everyone else out! We have to be brave and allow others to know us and we need to get to know each other. Trusting others to care for us and our "stuff" is hard to do. We may even find that we get hurt along the way, but the alternative of living alone, behind bars or iron, is against all that God has created us to be.