by: Tammy Painter
When I was a little girl, my grandmother had a potbellied wood burning stove in the basement of her home. I can remember her telling me not to get too close. Why? There was the danger of being burnt. I was also not allowed to play in the street when I was a child, for obvious reasons. As a matter of fact, we were not even allowed to play in the grassy area between the sidewalk in front of our house and the street. It was too close to that dangerous area.
As Christian ladies, there are many dangers of which we need to be careful. We need to recognize them and teach them to our children. As our children get older, those borderlines change and take on new faces and names. However, the danger of crossing from right to wrong is still the same.
Of course, no one sets out to do wrong. So, why do we get as close to it as we possibly can? Some areas that I look at in my own life to make sure that I am not borderline are; my walk with God, my associations, my dress and my attitude toward the house of God and the man of God.
First, let’s look at being borderline in your walk with God. When we neglect our walk with God, it hinders our ability to see the borderline. In Colossians 3:16 the Bible tells us, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” When we forsake our Bible reading, we have no wisdom, as seen in Jeremiah 8:9. “The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken; lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?”
We can be faithful in our Bible reading and still be borderline in our walk with God. Sometimes we get so busy with our lives that we forget to pray. It was through prayer that many have turned the heart of God to show mercy toward them. It also says in Proverbs 15:8, “…but the prayer of the upright is his delight.” Let’s not be borderline in our prayer life.
We need to remember to meditate on God’s Word. Meditation will help us to be mindful of his Word, even when it is not open and in front of us. It will help to create a standard mindset that is ready to recognize our boundaries and not cross over them.
Another area that needs constant attention is our associations. 2 Corinthians 6:14 says, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” Our fellowship with the unsaved or saved, but ungodly, will greatly hinder our ability to see the borderlines clearly. This is unmistakably laid out in Scripture with 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”
When we talk about borderlines concerning women’s dress, this is where ladies turn a deaf ear. Some people say that modest dress is a matter of opinion. This gives each lady the right to determine what they deem to be modest. The problem with this is found in Isaiah 55:8, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” The Bible gives so many examples of the problems with immodesty. There is one example of a progression that starts with immodesty…then lust, adultery, deceit, drunkenness and murder.
When we think of the story of David and Bathsheba, our attention is drawn to David’s sin. What we overlook is the seemingly innocent…Bathsheba. She was immodest where she could be observed by others. This led to lust and adultery…for those of you who know the story, know the sequence of events. There is some blame on Bathsheba’s part for the events that took place.
Oftentimes there are guidelines set for what is modest and what is not. For example, I have seen at a church the guidelines for a wedding dress. One of the guidelines was that the dress could not be sleeveless. So, the bride put a little cap on the “sleeve.” However, in her pictures the dress still looked sleeveless. Why do we want to get so close to that which is immodest? When we teeter on that borderline between modest or immodest it is very dangerous. Do we really want to make the borderline between right and wrong so thin and gray that we can’t even tell when we are standing in the wrong? I know I don’t.
Let me talk about the last area in my list, our attitude toward the house of God and the man of God. Many places in Scripture it speaks of dedicating the house of God or the dedication of the house of God. The house of God was a place set aside for a special purpose. Our church building is set in place for a special purpose. When we allow it to be abused by our families, then we are standing on that borderline of respect for the house of God.
Let me give you just a few examples…letting our children run or play on the platform and behind the pulpit. We do not teach our children to reverence the man of God when we do this. How about letting them write in the songbooks, leave wrappers in the songbook holder of the pews, using the offering envelopes for purposes other than offering, running in the hallways, playing on the piano, and the list could go on and on.
We have to guard our thoughts and our mouths concerning the man of God. It only takes one negative comment about the pastor and his preaching becomes ineffective to the rest of our family. There comes a day in everyone’s life when they need the man of God and his preaching, but it won’t be the help that God intended for it to be if you don’t have the right relationship with the man of God.
Our lives would be so much simpler and safer if we make sure to stay away from the borderline in these areas of our lives.
Tammy Painter
Pastor’s Wife
Lincoln Baptist Church
Lincoln, NE