Pushing Beyond the Boundaries

I think that the church ought to be about breaking out of the boundaries - but too often we allow ourselves to become too constrained! Society tends to operate by knowing the boundaries. We have policies galore to protect us - and I do understand why these things are so important! However, I find it a little ironic that I now find myself doing risk assessments after spending so long preaching about the importance of risk as a Gospel element. I have just started reading Steve Stockman's Walk On (Relevant Books, 2005), which is sub-titled The Spiritual Journey of U2. I haven't got very far yet, but Stockman is exploring the way in which the Christian faith of three of the four members of U2 impacted their life and witness. He explores how they have sometimes found themselves bridging the gap between what might be regarded as traditional rock and roll values and what might be regarded as traditional Christian values. This has not always been easy, and sometimes they have been criticised for their refusal to simply participate in the Christian music scene. But Stockman makes the point (p. 31): Maybe the times they have stumbled and admitted their imperfections have been worth the risk to be boundary-pushers in a world the Church has neglected. Jesus always seemed happier with followers who would chop people's ears off with swords than He was with people who claimed to have kept all the commandments. Didn't he just?