“Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.” Proverbs 22:28
Each year since I have been a pastor, I have taken time to take the young people from my church to one or more Christian camps during the summer. It is always an amazing time full of fellowship, spiritual growth and injuries resulting from me forgetting that I am no longer a teenager.
At one of those camps some years ago, I wandered into an afternoon teaching session. It quickly became evident, though, that I had missed an announcement somewhere along the line. As I sat down in the back of the assembly, the speaker noticed me and said, “Sir, I’m afraid I need to ask you to leave. This is a session for the girls, we need to be able to speak to them at liberty.”
I looked around and it was all girls, everywhere wall-to-wall – except me.
I immediately got up to leave and did so to the sound of about 500 girls cheering and clapping.
That, friends, was embarrassing. It was, however, also beneficial. Not my embarrassment, that was just embarrassing. What was beneficial was the fact that there was a girls-only session with no guys allowed. The speaker was able to deal with things that could not have been dealt with appropriately in mixed company.
I did not fuss; I did not complain; I did not go looking for a lawyer to file a grievance for me. Understanding how valuable such a setting and opportunity can be, I merely took my red face and departed for a less-embarrassing clime.
Our society has not only largely forgotten the benefit of societal barriers, in many cases it is actually regarding all societal barriers as anathema. I understand full well that barriers based on un-biblical and faulty premises such as the notion that one race is superior to another ought to be disregarded and done away with. Black people having to sit on the back of the bus or drink from a different water fountain did not become wicked during the civil rights movement; it always was wicked.
But the fact that there have been improper barriers put in place from time to time does not then prove that all barriers are improper. Proper societal barriers are utterly necessary in order to keep a society from tearing itself apart from within.
Our society is now rapidly abandoning several beneficial societal barriers. Actually, society is not so much abandoning them as having them ripped forcibly away from them by a tyrannical, social engineering-minded government.
Boys go to the boys restroom or changing room, and girls go to the girls restroom or changing room. A barrier? Yes, an utterly beneficial one. It preserves privacy, modest, and safety and still allows everyone to answer the call of nature any time they need to.
Men don’t get to beat up women. A barrier? Yes, an utterly beneficial one. Men have bigger bone structure, more muscle mass and massively higher levels of testosterone, advantages that can never be completely removed no matter what surgery or hormonal “therapy” takes place. Women are to be valued, cherished, loved and honored, not beaten by a man. Ever.
Adults don’t get to have sex with children. A barrier? Yes, an utterly beneficial one. No claims of “pedophiles were born this way, too!” will ever make it right. Children are easily influenced by those older or in power and must never be subjected to such abuse.
People do not get to waltz into homes or countries without permission. A barrier? Yes, an utterly beneficial one. Private property rights are the very cornerstone of a constitutional republic.
There are many more societal barriers that have existed for a very long time for one reason: They are beneficial to society as a whole. A good pastor friend of mine is fond of saying, “Before you tear down a fence, you might want to find out why it is there to begin with.”
In the case of America, the desire of a few “smarter than thou” elites to tear down every long-standing fence has the distinct potential not just to cater to the confused or hurting but also to let a great number of carnivores loose on a bunch of unsuspecting sheep. Those ancient landmarks?
The carnivores may hate them, but those they would prey on certainly do not.
Bo Wagner is pastor of the Cornerstone Baptist Church of Mooresboro, N.C., and the author of several books available at www.wordofhismouth.com. Contact him at 2knowhim@cbc-web.org.