Out Our Way: Why ride fence?

Isaiah 5:20 "Woe to them who call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter"

Out our way, one of our regular routines was to "ride fence." Charlie and I would ride along the fence line looking for places where the fence was down. Sometimes the barbed wire had broken, sometimes a fence post or two had come loose and fallen over - but in any case, there was a gap in the fence where cattle could wander off and be lost. No sane rancher or farmer is going to ignore a broken fence if they want to keep their herd or crops.

Laws have the same purpose as do moral standards: they have been put in place to protect the community, culture, and humanity in general. As with fences, there are going to be times when there will be gaps. The question is, what are we going to do about it ? Out our way, while there are cases of some folks with a grudge cutting a neighbor's fence - and yes, we still have to deal with an occasional rustler who take out a section of fence so they can drive their truck in and load a few head - the greatest amount of loss from downed fences comes from neglect. Fence posts rot and need to be replaced, barbed wire gets loose or even breaks. To pay no attention and ignore the problem is a recipe for disaster. That is why Charlie and I ride fence - to spot the problem and fix it before it becomes worse.    

Now back to history. Every civilization had laws and a moral code, and in every case when those laws and that morality was ignored, the civilization was destroyed from within. Israel - God's "Chosen" people - suffered exile and self destruction several times when the elite of the nation and the majority of the people neglected to "ride fence." Small indiscretions are ignored, and then accepted and then celebrated. More follow and soon the cultural elites demand big and broader "holes" in the fence, and eventually demand the fence posts be taken down. It's the same story over and over again. Isaiah warned Israel that by neglecting the "fence" of the "Torah" (the law) that had been established to serve and protect the people, they would end up like all those cultures before them that had lost their way, 

Israel neglected their heritage and culture. King Saul, the first king, neglected following God's ways and was replaced by David. But even David began to ignore God's ways and paid a price. His son, Solomon - the last king - was supposedly wise, but in neglecting God he proved to be foolish. After his death, the Kingdom was divided by civil war and the northern tribes kept the name of Israel, but failed to follow the ways of God. Every generation became further and further distant from their culture and faith, and eventually the 10 tribes that made up the Northern Kingdom were absorbed by the Assyrian Empire and ceased to be God's people. They simply ceased to be. The southern tribes became known as Judah and the Israelites became known as "The Jews." They also neglected God's ways and eventually were destroyed by Babylon. But a faithful few started "riding fence" and patching the gaps that neglect had allowed. These few survived and eventually returned to the Holy Land as captive people. Sadly, once again the cultural elites rose to power and began to neglect the "fence," and many of the people followed along. And, as prophesied over and over again, neglecting their faith and their culture, they allowed the gaps to go largely unrepaired over time and lost it all. From around 70 AD to 1948 AD, there was no Israel or Judah.    

God was faithful even if so many of His people were not. He still is, but the question is, are we? Does a "faithful remnant" exist in the Church today as it did when despite being dominated by Babylon and then the pagans of Persia, Greece and Rome, still hold true to the Lord? Are there still those who will "ride fence" and challenge the neglect and even the hostility of an amoral culture who proclaim righteousness as evil - God's Word as ignorance - and faithfulness as a bitter abomination?   

It happened in Isaiah's time and it is happening in our own. The fence needs to be checked and in some places repaired. Who will ride fence and,in their own way, seek to repair what neglect and sometimes outright vandalism have destroyed? Sometimes repairing a "broken strand of fence" only requires us to say "No." There may be more gaps in the fence and we cannot fix them all - but we can fix the fence where we are. Someone demands I cut the fence or just leave the gap, I just say, "Nope." Let them shout their judgmental indignation at me - they did the same to Isaiah and the other prophets - but their way led to the destruction and collapse of culture Isaiah warned those with ears to hear and eyes to see. He still warns us. Maybe this time we will pay attention. 

Be blessed and be a blessing!

Brother John

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The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way." He can be reached for comment or dialogue at [email protected].