Tear Down Your Walls

Tear Down the Walls is a real masterpiece - a P&W song that manages to say something without giving up its singalongability. Plus its as catchy as the swine flu. More importantly, my gut knows that every word, emotion and chord of the song rings absolutely true. We're not meant for walls - it was for the wide open plains of freedom that Christ set us free. And its on those plains that we can actually see the lost that He came to both seek and save.

Of course, if you've been in the church long enough, you know that "tearing down walls" has a been a pretty popular pulpit-based-recommendation for sometime now. It's up there with, "live out-loud," "be the change," "let your light shine," "wash behind your ears," and "I brought you into this world, I can take you out." Stuff we've heard, agreed with, and then ignored for so long that I'm not sure any of us actually expect the words to change a thing. Our own familiarity becomes the "walls" that box us in. They don't box God in. That's just stupid. They box us in. They prevent us from seeing what God plans to surprise us with outside of the walls.

I think this is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 8:10ff

"While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" 12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

The Pharisees were used to their idea of God - so, even when He was standing right in front of them, they could not see past the walls of their own familiar perceptions. And because they were walled in, they could not see the true need in front of them - a need that was as visible as a sick man who needs a doctor. Sick people need prescriptions, not perceptions.

Re-enter Joel Houston's advice: Tear Down the Walls - your own walls! Get un-familiar with God. If you think of Him as your friend, remember that he is also your Lord. If you're used to His holiness, remember His undying grace. If your own salvation is familiar to you, invest in someone else's. Because on the other side of those walls is a surprise as bold as the sun rise. Thank you, Joel, I needed that.

The sad thing is, the Pharisees are the only party in the story who are seriously missing out. I mean, think about it. Matthew was a tax-collecta'. That's, like, ancient Greek, for bazillionaire. So while everyone is sitting around eating those little tiny one-bite lamb-chops that are so tender and expensive, with real mint sauce (not safe-way green jelly), and grilled mushrooms the size of a man's fist, the Pharisees are standing on the sidelines, starving. That's messed up. I mean, you can talk about sinners with your mouth full, right?

What I love about our team is that we're all too hungry to stand on the sidelines. There's a reward that comes with getting over ourselves and reacting to God by reaching the lost. Little lamb-chops are worth knocking walls down for. And this song is the sledgehammer I needed to do just that.

What's your advice on tearing down the walls of familiarity? When you notice them in your life, what type of sledgehammer do you use to tear them down?

-Caleb

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