Guest post: Boundaries

One of my favorite commentators on the intertubes is The Atlantic Monthly’s Ta-Nehisi Coates. Always thoughtful, he is worth reading, even when one disagrees with him. Writing about “blackness,” identity, and community, Coates states:

“Put differently, as discomfiting as this may sound, all communities have boundaries–and not only do they have them, they are necessarily defined by them…It’s true that the boundaries of the collective create problems for the individual–problems that should be confronted and wrestled with. But this a human problem, and the implication that black people are in exclusive or chronic possession of that problem strikes me as wrong-headed.”

In discussions about race or politics or history Coates argues against creating artificial images of varying groups–either postive or negative–reminding us that  “real” people live these lives. All groups, including black people, are human, with all their foibles and follies. The same goes for Christians or any other group. We cannot escape who we are.

In the passage above, Coates argues against the view that we should have no boundaries in human interactions. He says that boundaries matter–they are not only inevitable, they are also useful. To form a community you must not only belong to something, but also not belong to something else. (I can join my Neighborhood Association because I live in this neighborhood.) We all live within boundaries, recognized or otherwise, that help define us, often in beneficient ways.

As Christians we have an interesting relationship with boundaries. On one hand we follow a God who breaks all human boundaries—sin, racial, ethnic, personal. On the other hand we have defined boundaries because what we believe and live really matters. There is significance to the Christian boundaries, so we fight and debate over what matters when it comes to being a Christian. We ask, what boundaries need to be in place for us to be able to call ourselves Christians? For some Christians, boundaries are uncomfortable because they limit what (and who) is in and what is out. For others, our boundaries are insufficiently enforced, allowing too much to come in that dilutes the distinctives of the community.

For the Christian (or any other) community to matter we need to have boundaries. And to maintain our vitality those boundaries need to be pushed and pulled, always seeking after the Kingdom.

Redhead in Rapid