Living Beyond The Wall

Our obligation to the Barbarians

"Sometimes when I am present at the various shelters that I offer pastoral presence within, I think about how the Apostle Paul must of felt in his unfolding missionary work when he said: “I am obligated both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.” -Romans 1:14

The word barbarian is a deep and difficult word that captures in my mind all that is beyond one’s known experience, that dangerous, dark and mysterious world where some people live. 

They live beyond the wall. 

Here is civilized, there is uncivilized. Here are the educated, there are ignorant. (Interesting how we tend to put ourselves in the more flattering category when we hear such categories). 

Paul felt an obligation to be among the barbarians. To cross the wall, go to the edges, be among those who he didn't understand. To expose himself to many situations where he would be uncomfortable, perplexed, conflicted, shocked, disturbed, disgusted, astounded, bewildered, touched, convicted, surprised and humbled. 

Living beyond the walls does this. 

Sitting at tables with those who eat differently than you do is a challenging experience. Sitting with people who have chosen sexual partners different from you is difficult. Trying to explain a new God to people who have other gods is hard. 

But the love of God compels us (2 Cor. 5:14). 

I was having lunch with a few ladies and their children and one was wearing a T-shirt that said boldly: “Half Hood, Half Holy: that means pray with me, don’t play with me.” 

I sat there looking at her smiling face while wrestling her giggling son who was spitting out his food, squirming and inciting the other knee-bitters at the table to mount their own mother rebellions. She was honest about who she was, living out loud, unashamed, a bit in your face, but coy. Not afraid to own the truth of who she was in this moment, in transition and change. She is full of complexities that don’t always make it easy for anyone who is black and white. I admired her spunk and told her I loved her shirt and would wear it on a Sunday. She laughed with a look of surprise. 

It’s in moments like these when my admiration for the raw truth telling, the nerve and pluck of the 9th round beatdowns who get back up grows. I look at myself and wonder who is really the civilized and uncivilized living among us…and within us.  

I ordered my t-shirt today." 

Pastor Eric.