Orange Barrel Theology

by

John D. McArthur, Jr.

Do you have them where you live? Do you have the orange barrels that indicate road construction? Their return each spring to the interstate system near my home has become such a tradition that they are almost as sure a sign that spring is coming as the sighting of a robin or the budding of a tree.

The process of reconstruction seems to be taking forever. Will they ever be finished or will orange barrels be a permanent part of our lives? Cynics claim by the time all the widening and straightening of the roads are completed, the interstate will be outdated again and in need of further reconstruction.

1 Peter 2 talks about the orange barrels that surround our lives. In a very real sense, we are under construction and this construction is not short term or temporary.

The work being done in our lives is described in verse 1. "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind."

When we read a verse like this it is easy to understand that the items listed are wrong and not Christ-like. Too often, though, we spend all our time defining the problem and not enough time looking at the solution. The problem is obvious: we do not want to have these mean, hateful and sinful attitudes in our lives. The solution, although it is clear: live like Christ - is not so easy to do.

That is why Peter describes Christian living as a process. Becoming mature in Christ or growing up in our salvation, as verse 2 says, takes time. Being a mature Christian is not something we do once and quit or something we ever completely accomplish.

If we claim to be a Christian, then we are under construction. And when the orange barrels are up in our lives, it should not be a frustrating experience or something that slows us down. Orange barrels in our lives mean we are growing as Christians.

But do not think that because the orange barrels are up, we cannot do anything. When the orange barrels are up on the interstate, the road is usually still open, isn't it? As we come to God and as he begins to shape us into what he would have us be, we are not closed either. Oswald Chambers wrote, "God's training is for now, not presently. His purpose is for this minute, not for something in the future...What men call training and preparation, God calls the end."

Do you see the significance? We do not wait to serve until we are older, or out of school, or married, or the kids are grown, or we retire. We serve God now.

When we come to Christ, we are being built into what he wants us to be. And this building is not always the way the world thinks it should be. Verses 7 and 8 remind us that Jesus is the cornerstone we build our lives upon.

Now, I do not know much about building, but the dictionary describes a cornerstone as the "essential or main basis for something." A building will not stand without the cornerstone. Isn't it time we stopped building our lives without the most important piece? Education, our jobs, even family and security are inferior cornerstones to the living stone, Jesus Christ.

The orange barrels in our lives mean something else as well. Who decides which roads are worked on? It is a complicated process guided sometimes by politics and sometimes by resources. But the bottom line normally is: the roads that are most essential get the most attention. Some back country road that leads to nowhere will not have orange barrels up often, if at all. But the vital roads, the ones that are most often used and needed are continually being inspected and set up for improvement.

We have orange barrels in our life because God has chosen us. Verses 9 and 10:

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

Notice what Peter is saying here. It is the same thing Paul said when he wrote Romans 5:8: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." And it was Jesus, remember, who said he did not come to save the righteous but the unrighteous.

We are not saved simply because we want to be saved, we are saved because God chose us. This is not predestination or any other warped view of God's workings. It is the realization we have done nothing to deserve or demand salvation. We have been chosen by God. Don't forget, the first step was his: "For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son..."

And, everyone has been chosen! 2 Peter 3:9 says God does not want anyone to perish. That is the good news. But, we have to claim our hope; God will not force his choice on us.

There was an article on the news once about unclaimed cash. It seems the state has all kinds of money that belongs to different people. Everything from a few cents to a few thousand dollars has been left unclaimed for various reasons. However, the state will not seek you out and force you to take the money. If you have money that belongs to you, you have to claim it. And there is a whole formal process you must go through before you receive the check that rightfully belongs to you.

God has our salvation. The blood of Jesus on the cross is waiting for us to claim. However, he will not force it on us; we must claim our salvation through faith, repentance and baptism.

Since we have been chosen by God and once we claim the salvation he offers, we no longer belong to this world. That is why Peter wrote verses 11 and 12:

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they may accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."

The orange barrels around our lives goes deeper and means a whole lot more than symbolic gestures condemning the sinful things of this world. What we are to get rid of and abstain from in our lives are the things Peter refers to way back in verse 1. And when we are willing to give up malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind, we will grow to Christian maturity.

John Fischer wrote,

"Which is easier to follow: real Christians don't envy or real Christians don't dance? Which one gets noticed first: real Christians don't lust or real Christians don't smoke? Which is harder to comply with: real Christians love their enemies or real Christians go to church on Sunday?"

We have been chosen by God and we are not of this world. That involves a whole lot more work than outward appearances. It digs deep into our soul and changes our lives.

Do you have them where you live? Do you have the orange barrels, not of human construction, but the orange barrels of God?