The Berlin Walls of the Heart

Last week I laid my hand on part of the original Berlin Wall. Then I walked around and lay my had on that other side. I went back and forth, touching it, leaning against it, looking up at the top and imaging an attempt to get over it. I walked down along side of it. I imagined I was in communist country, the East side, and I want my freedom so badly I considered risking my life. That's what so many did.

We discovered it wasn't just one single wall. It was several walls with distance between them. If you made it over one wall you then had to run 30 feet and jump a steal structure. If you make that you run another 20 feet and jump a barb-wire fence. All the time you're hoping you don't get shot! My assumption was there was this wall. It divided the city. Period. But keeping people from leaving bondage Berlin and getting into the new land of freedom was a full-time, expensive, and difficult task. I have a few thoughts and observations.

One: Creating a wall to keep people from being free is a very difficult, ongoing job.

Well after the War, far enough in the future that the remains of Hitler's most zelous followers were certainly decayed to bones, there was a great army of builders and guards assigned to this massive Berlin wall project. And it was indeed massive, the upkeep project that is. It would be easy if you could just build a wall and walk away. But not this time; not this sort of wall. This is a wall for a specific greater purpose than your average property marker wall, or animal containment wall. This wall was for the people; people who kept on and kept on trying to get free. Their desire for freedom made them relentless and resourceful. Many died trying to cross over. But many others made it freedom. Enough people did make it to freedom that it emboldened those still in bondage. The more people became brave the more they would try to escape. The more people would try to escape the more effort and material was added to the Wall. Creating a wall to keep people from being free is a very difficult, ongoing job.

Two: NO one was trying to escape from the free side into the communist side. No one.

Freedom is a basic human need. A Dictator is simply someone who dictates to another how they should live their lives, thus robbing them of basic freedom. The drive to be free from a dictatorship is as strong as our will to live, eat, or love. Therefore the real burden to maintain a communist way of thinking and living falls to the Dictator and his most dedicated adherents. But this is different than the desire to be governed. People DO want laws that provide for a greater, more safe, level of freedom. But if a leader crosses the line of law making into the gross area of complete life-management, taking over your life and declaring it the property of the State, then you can be sure the fight for freedom will begin. People always, always move toward freedom.

Three: The Berlin Wall is a two-fold symbol.

On the one hand it is a symbol of division, reminding us about our human nature and the easy way in which we can slip into separation.  On the other hand it is also a symbol of change, reminding us that it is never too late to make it right, to tear down that wall.

We all have the potential to build Berlin Walls of the heart.

One of the GREATEST challenges to being is a Christ-follower is learning how to be friends with those who disagree with us and how to love those who have different views of how to be a Christian. The KEY to to learning this, I'm convinced, is knowing WHO we are in Christ! If we are secure in our identity we are less likely to be threatened by another person's interpretation of scripture, or preference in worship, or goals for parenting, or believe in man's origin, or theology of the church or .... etc., etc., etc. Pick a topic. At any given point if we are not drawing our self-worth from the God who created and defines us we are more likely to construct walls in our hearts. Once the wall project begins it will be a constant labor, stealing our joy and draining our spiritual vivacity.

Fortunately the walls of our hearts can come down and we can experience great freedom ourselves, as well as set others free who we lead or influence. I know this personally, because I made a Berlin Wall in my own heart, dividing in my mind a true and right way to be fully "Christian" from a great many of wrong ways. This was my wall of judgementalism. As it grew I had to maintain it. The Wall project began to consume me.

The great enemy of God is a Dictator himself and is an expert Wall builder. I let him in to swing his hammer and pour his mortar. I spent so much energy maintaining my own heart's wall.  And it wasn't easy, because my own heart also wanted to be free. Fortunately, the Spirit of God is represented by a dove, a perfect symbol of freedom. He flew over to my side of the wall and brought a green blade of grass from the other side. I realized in that season of my life that loving others regardless of whether they agreed with me was indeed a greener grass on the other side of the wall. And I wanted that freedom, the freedom to recognize and cooperate with the millions of Christians around the world, and not think my own little way of "church" was the only right way, or the best way. The beauty of the grass became a weapon against the wall, allowing me to chip away -- and then hack away -- at the foundations of the wall. And I could hear a voice, not the gruff cowboy voice of Ronald Raegan, but the sweet soft voice of God Himself whispering to me, 'Tear down this wall.' And so I did. Today I cannot describe the great happiness which comes from the freedom of not judging other Christians if they don't believe like I do.

It is never too late to obey God's sweet voice and tear down the walls of our heart. The walls don't make those persons on the free side want to come into our hearts, nor are they able. Our barrier attitude does not make the free less free, or less happy. They are the free ones. When we build walls we are those who are NOT free. Our wall only harms us. And we have to work so hard to maintain it. God never intended for His children to build walls. God never intended for churches to build walls.

It's time to tear down these walls in our heats and unite to build God's Kingdom instead.