What are fences for?

In one of his famous poems, 'Mending Wall', Robert Frost has a certain character say, 'Good fences make good neighbours'. The poem itself doesn't actually endorse this character's point of view. Frost is suggesting that people build fences in order to keep their neighbours at arm's length. So fence building in this instance is an act of hostility, designed to keep other people out.

Another, less common use, for a fence is as a chair. We all know the sort of thing. 'So and so never commits himself. He's always sitting on the fence.' I think we have all done that at some point in our lives – sometimes with good reason. We may not wish to offend people for whom we care, so we avoid making it clear where we stand on a certain matter.

However, there are other reasons why we don't commit ourselves clearly. Very often we are afraid of what other people might think of us. This is particularly so when it comes to matters of belief. I have known people who quite genuinely believed in Christ, but for whom the cost of following through on that belief was too great.

There is always a line for us to cross if we are to follow Christ. If anybody tells you that it is easy, they are not telling the truth. It will cost you something. But even a cup of coffee costs something. Unlike Robert Frost, Jesus never coined any phrases about fences. He did, however, leave us with the knowledge that we cannot be half-hearted believers. 'He who is not with Me is against me', 'He who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me' and 'He who loses his life for My sake will find it'.

These are sobering words, but they are not part of our ordinary thinking. For that reason they can feel very confronting. I knew a man who lived for many years with a belief in Christ, even to the point of defending Christianity in arguments. But he knew absolutely that he wasn't a Christian. It was one thing to hold an intellectual position, quite another to lose his life for Christ's sake. His problem wasn't one of belief; his problem really came down to losing face. So, for the sake of remaining acceptable to his friends, the man lived in denial of what he believed.

One day he heard the gospel preached again. He knew it was true. And now he felt he could no longer avoid the words of Christ. He wasn't going to go away grieved this time. Come what may, a clear decision had to be made. He was either totally for Christ or he was against Him. There was no longer any middle ground. He had to climb down from the fence he was sitting on and stand on the other side with Christ. Wonderfully, he is still a Christian to this day.

That is one man's story. It is also the story of many, many others. What about you? Do you sit on the fence, frightened of the cost? There is no shame in admitting it. Even some of the apostles had this fear. The real shame would be to ignore the knowledge of what you should do, to go through life missing out on the most important thing of all, and to have all eternity to regret your indecision. Fences might make good neighbours. But, they certainly don't make good chairs. And we shouldn't sit on them.

Tim Maurice

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Feature Articles
February 2009

A measure of faith

Faith for resurrection

Calling upon the Lord

Ready or not

Recognising new creation

Learning to shepherd

The word of faith

The fruits of wisdom

Following the Lamb

Once I was blind

What are fences for?