When I observed the mess around the world, I begin to wonder whether people at all know that boundaries exist in life. Literally, boundary indicates anything marking a limit; bound, as of a territory. There are physical, spiritual, social, cultural, economical, and relationship boundaries, etc. These boundaries speak the acceptable limits we can live, move, or operate in areas, lines, norms or perimeters. Anything outside these perimeters is considered a violation or trespass [sin] and could be frowned at and attract legal action. On earth, physical boundaries appear in different forms such as fences, signs, walls, moats and or hedges etc, but they send across the same messages. Physical boundaries mark visible property line that separates one piece of property from another and in most cases; someone holds the deeds for each of them.
Also every nation of the world operates within her territorial boundaries. To act outside her territorial boundaries is a violation of international laws supportive of the sovereignty of nations. If so, are some powerful nations not invading weak nations in violation of the set laws in place? Within a state, some rules and laws are put in place to regulate the way people live, do business, rights and privileges. Some of these rules include: the right of freedom of existence, of speech, of religion etc; carry out business without undue interferences and compliance to the state regulations such as road signs, paying taxes, property ownership rights and obligations and moral behaviors.
Again, have you attempted to register for courses in any college or university? You would be required to state whether you are in-district, out-of-district or out-of-state. That’s a boundary to protect interest of students living within the geography of the institution[s], wherein taxes are paid to sustain the college. Those living out of district pay double the cost of the course while out of state pay through their noses.
Spiritual boundaries exist within various religions; consist of the dos and don’ts and the consequences. The Ten Commandments stands tall as God’s moral code for the wellbeing of individual and the communities. Human beings had missed the mark of God’s perfect righteousness. This defect is called sin and Christ died to take away the sin load. Whoever professes faith in Jesus death and resurrection has salvation and eternal life. As simple as that may seem, it’s only those who believes that reaps the benefits.
I seem to see boundaries everywhere I turn; some appear too religious to belief. For example: I once attended a service in a Catholic Church and the priest invited only ‘confirmed Catholics’ to partake in Holy Communion. However, I thought it was peculiar to the Catholics, until I was privileged to worship in a Pentecostal Church in Houston. The pastor dignifiedly announced that only members who had ‘baptism by emersion’ should partake in the Lord’s Supper. However in others Christian churches invitations are always extended to those who had professed faith in the Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Are you surprised where the right boundary should be and what should constitute the boundary? Thank God that Christ knew how crazy man was with imposition that He decided to offer us His grace.
In the Bible, book of Genesis – chapter one tells the story of creation. Chapter two tells how man was created and domiciled to the Garden of Eden. God charged Adam and Eve, ‘of every fruit of the tree in the Garden [including the tree of eternal life]thou may freely eat but the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they shall not eat; for the day they ate it, thou shall surely die.’ It does not matter who offered it to them, how appetizing it may look or how palatable it taste. Surprisingly, as explicit and bold as this boundary appeared, man did not heed to it. It could be they took it for granted or thought it a suggestion, not a commandment. This lapse is still common among us today.
The Pharisees asked Jesus whether it was proper to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus reaffirmed the boundary rule when He said, “Give to Caesar which is Caesar’s and to God which is God’s.” Jesus recognized that taxes were levied by head of earthly government, to assist the institution runs and steers the sheep of the state. Caesar used here does not connote Satan or its agent. This responsibility includes: provision of basic amenities, security and safety and comfort for the well being of the citizens. He also made a case for God: that which belongs to God should be given to God; do not eat, or steal, or convert or divert as well as take for granted.
The greatest thing that belongs to God is the human soul yet it’s the least to be surrendered to Him. People usually give treasure, talent and time [3t’s] but reluctant and hesitant to give their lives. This brought to mind the story of a rich philanthropist who freely gives to the poor, build Health Centers for communities and award scholarships for higher education and pay his fat tithe to his Church. He built a chapel and invited an Archbishop for its dedication. God had another plan for that day! The man of God was indisposed, so he delegated one of his lieutenants. In his sermon, the young pastor commended the rich man for all his benevolent activities, but stated that God does not live in house built by hand but in human’s heart. He preached that God appreciates all your benevolence but requires one thing from him – to give his life to Christ. The moment he preached that God now needs his soul, that message became offensive to the rich man and he got mad.
Boundaries exist even in relationships, be it marriage, family, friendship, dating or in cultural settings. Some spouses nonchalantly shift the poles that marked the boundaries and expect their partners to tolerate them. Neither the couples nor their children know the original boundaries. This put unimaginable storm on the relationship as reflected in their behaviors and utterances at home and in the public. Some people believe when people they are supposingly closed, they need no boundaries. This sort of boundary-less life could result to hurting, abuses, and conflicts. We have to be conscious of what we say to one another and how we say it; how our actions or behaviors are perceived or affect other people. We need to learn to listen to others, appreciate their opinions, talents and gifts, while tolerating their weakness, if not overbearing. We should respect our individualism and be careful on how we use words on others because spoken words are powerful. Watch our behaviors at home and outside because what is condoned at home may be intolerable outside. We should not ignore cultural settings and it’s prospective.
This boundary-less behavior is noticeable even in cultural settings and its prospective. Some uncultured persons even though well read and supposed to be enlightened are uncivilized. They are quick to bump on other people and infringe on their rights and freedom with careless abandon; invade other people’s privacy thereby causing pains and hurts. Funny enough the unions for fear of hurting the bulls endure these indecencies and become repeated occurrences. Could these behaviors be attributed to improper upbringing or inability to imbibe fundamental early life’s disciplines? They may have ‘diarrhea of the mouth’ and/or undiagnosed psychological vulnerabilities. To change their situation, they must first change their attitudes; understand that every person deserves some measure of respect and gap. Then the inadequacies / psychotic symptoms shall be helped. If only people could learn to observe boundaries, there would be less conflicts and abuses in our families, in public gathering and our world would be a better place.