The wedding took place in the old Union Station in downtown Indianapolis. The groomsmen, myself, and Brandon were all upstairs getting pictures taken around this balcony. There were rooms on this balcony and my brother Matt went exploring into what looked like an empty apartment that had a door standing open.
After a few minutes, he came scurrying out like a scared little girl because he walked into one room of the apartment and found a dude sleeping on a couch.
We thought he was lying, of course, so a few of us went in to check it out. The transformation in maturity from the point we decided to enter the apartment was profound. 30-year-old men suddenly regressed in maturity by at least 15 - 20 years. We were tip-towing in, giggling like school girls, and pushing each other to the front position (no one wanted to go first). Matt showed us the way to the room while hanging near the back of the pack. A few of us pinky sweared to enter the room at the same time. Well, we didn't pinky swear, but none of us wanted to go in alone. One of the groomsmen, Chris, took the lead and I was right behind him.
Sure enough, we turned the corner and saw some feet. Next thing I know I hear Matt yelling, "Get outta there!" and I shoved Chris as hard as I could toward the couch as sort of the sacrificial lamb in case this guy asleep on the couch turned out to be a violent sociopath.
Turns out he was just a homeless guy that had found a way to get inside the air-conditioned building, discovered an open door and an old couch and was pretty content until a group of jack-asses awakened him from his peaceful slumber.
He sat up and we went scurrying out of the apartment giggling and laughing. And our adrenaline was definitely pumping.
As I think back on this story, questions pop into my head regarding human nature...
When facing an unknown outcome, why are we hesitant or even scared to "go first" and lead the way?
When we get caught, even if we aren't really doing anything wrong, why do we run and hide and try to cover up our actions?
The biggest question that came to mind was this, what is it about pushing boundaries that gets our adrenaline pumping? We like to see how far we can push something or how close we can get. It's in our nature. Why do we do this?
Even though we were just having some innocent fun, well mostly innocent. One of the groomsmen got his corsage ripped off and broken during the mad scramble to escape. We were clutching and grabbing each other trying not to be the last one out and apparently the corsage was a victim of this.
It's in our nature to push boundaries. Some of you are thinking, "Not me. I have no trouble following rules." Or maybe you are obsessed with rules and you take the boundaries of OCD to new and scary levels. But chances are there is some boundary you push against because all of us do that.
1. Ask yourself, what boundaries do I love to push?
For example, being back in the midwest reminds me of the incredible social pressure of keeping up one's landscaping. People push the social boundaries of landscaping all the time. How long can I go without mowing my lawn. How can I cover up weeds with mulch rather than picking them?
To many of you "green thumbs" this is a lame example, but for those of us who despise landscaping and love to rebel against "the man" (aka the HOA), it's a legit boundary we push.
If it's not HOA boundaries, what social boundary do you love to push?
2. What boundaries are good to push? Bad?
Example: How about the boundaries of right/wrong? People are testing these all the time with certain acts of disobedience. Maybe it's my 3 year old Ty throwing food at the table or maybe it's someone robbing a convenience store. Are you one of those people who ask for water at a fast food restaurant and then get soda?
3. Have I gone past the boundary? What were the results and consequences of that choice?
4. Why am I pushing this boundary? Is it for a good reason? Or a selfish reason?
I'm hoping these questions open up a giant can of worms (which I love to do). I would love to see you share some answers to those questions. It could be a serious story or a funny one. It could be about you or it could be about our culture. Let's see what you got. There are definitely a couple cultural answers I'll address, but let's here from you first.
1 comments:
Well Aaron I have to say that I feel privileged to be the first to comment. I can tell you that I love to push the boundaries of the conservative church. By conservative church I am talking about the churches that preach the Fire and Brimstone sermons, that speak of being careful not to get to close to those who are non-Christians because they could rub off on you. Anyone who knows me will testify that I think we fail to push the boundaries of living a Christ like life in most aspects of our daily lives. I will be the first to say that I can push a little to far and step over the line, but I always know when I have done that and how to get back to where I am supposed to be. I think that by pushing these boundaries we are able to open the door to a whole new group of people who have chosen to move as far away from the church as possible because of the narrow minded teachings. I know that there is always the chance that we could fall flat on our face when pushing the limits of what it means to be a christian in our world today, but its like Erwin McManus said in his book, "The Barbarian Way" if it weren't for the people who dared to try that mushroom growing up from the soil we would never have been able to enjoy the mushroom. I hate mushrooms, but the point remains, some people had to die and get sick from eating mushrooms that they didn't know were bad, but they also helped lead us into an understanding of what was good and what was bad. I think we have to be that way with the church. I think you pose a very good question though, are we pushing these boundaries for a good reason or for a selfish one? I think we need to be evaluating our decisions on a daily basis and that is one questions we HAVE to ask ourselves in order to God's work and not our own!
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