Thin Walls

Our 1978 Jayco

  Our camper has really thin walls, maybe 2 inches thick at most.  Recreational vehicles are designed to be as light as possible for the most efficient towing and touring.  We've been on the gypsy road for a while now and have found that thin walls are a blessing in more ways than one.  The first, of course, is that when we are climbing the long and winding hills of west Michigan, I'm thankful that the trailer doesn't weigh any more than it's registered 4,400 pounds.  The old Dodge pickup is a workhorse that doesn't mind the load.
  But another thin wall for which I am thankful is the vanishing generation gap that got so much publicity a few decades ago but seems to be diminishing as observers like David Kinnaman* point out in recent studies.  One characteristic that today's young adults seem to have in common is the inclination to engage in conversation.  They don't seem to be the least bit interested in listening to a sermon or a lecture; there is definitely still a solid wall there.  But they are drawn to real discussion, and they'll talk openly about almost any subject, even religion, if there's good-natured dialogue and an absence of criticism.

Street musicians in Grand Rapids

  Kaye and I experienced the reality of this first hand in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, last week when we came across a band of young street musicians occupying a square of sidewalk near the Blues on the Mall event.
  I have found that the camera is an automatic invitation for people to engage in conversation, and I had been shooting artists and bystanders and classic car owners and getting a smile and a welcoming nod from each one.  People love having their pictures taken.  As I was sitting on the sidewalk shooting these musicians, Christina approached Kaye and started talking.  She talked about her friends and what they were doing there, and Kaye talked about our new wayfaring lifestyle and the home we had left, and there didn't seem to be the least bit of a wall between them, generational or otherwise.  Christina didn't seem to notice that we were old enough to be her grandparents and it didn't matter.  It was a delightful and refreshing experience.  The two exchanged email addresses, and when we arrived back at camp there was already a message waiting from Christina.

Musicians Steven and Christina

  And that brings me back to an unfortunate thought about the walls of denominationalism that have divided the Body of Christ for so many centuries.  I don't believe that these walls are God-ordained in the slightest but are man-made.  And it seems to me that while the walls are thinning in some places as with young people - if we are really willing to engage them, the walls are thickening in other places.
  Walls of politics are growing even within the church.  The conservatives battle the liberals, the Republicans malign the Democrats, and the evangelicals demonize the main-liners for their proverbial slippery slope (Curse that  slippery slope!)  Doctrinal walls continue to be shored up and strengthened with every secular or theological "threat" that presents itself.  Hate rises while Love Wins.
  At its last general conference the Missionary Church shored up its doctrinal walls by adopting a statement rejecting Open Theism.  And the denominational walls thickened.
  If we ever expect to engage the current culture, we must move the other way.  Damn the walls.  Tear them down.  For God's sake let's get along.  A generation depends on it.
  As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord by seeking to tear down walls by cutting the theological crap, as it were, and putting people first.
  People are more important than doctrinal stuff.  Always.


What methods have you seen implemented for thinning or removing the walls that separate people?


*David Kinnaman, the head of the Barna Group, refers to 16 to 29-year-olds as Mosaics in his book, Unchristian, What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity ... and Why It Matters.