The Halfway Place
By Gene Scarborough
Pastor in Rocky Mount, NC

Based on Genesis 11:26-32

Many know of Abraham, but few know his father, Terah. I ask, “Why?” The answer comes in looking at the map of their journey. To go from Ur of the Caldeans to Canaan, the Promised Land, they had to avoid a huge desert. The way to do this was to first journey northwest to a small oasis named Haran. I submit that if Terah and his band had not stopped in Haran, the halfway place, Terah would have been famous as the founder of the Hebrews. His epitaph is the saddest of all: “Terah died there at the age of 205.”

Halfway places are significant for us all. The highest incidence of suicide in males occurs between the ages of 40 and 45: too many end life halfway through because they lack the courage to see themselves honestly and have hope for the future. Many, like a giant aircraft going from one continent to the other, fail to set the heading for the far shore. Instead, they throw up their hands in despair and that aircraft of life begins to lose altitude, crashing in a cold, dark, murky sea of despair.

Every part of life has its halfway place: personal relations, business, faith, etc. I believe there are some significant halfway places for us to consider in the church today.

1. The church has located itself in the halfway place of institutionalism. Jack Nofsinger was pastor of Knollwood Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, NC. A visiting friend asked him one day, “Where is your church?” expecting the address. Instead Jack told him, “It is Monday. My church is located in the downtown business district, in the hospital and in every location where our members are employed. That is where my church is located.” Too many see the church as a building rather than the people who come for healing and inspiration so they may work and raise families during the week.

Baptists are famous for accusing Catholics of “idol worship” with their icons and statues. Baptists have an idol also: our church buildings. How many must have a grander church than the one up the street? How many must get a new organ because a competitor just bought one better than theirs? Too often we compete for the most beautiful building award when we should think, instead, about quality of spiritual living among our members as they carry out the life of Christ each day.

Where was Jesus? Was he at the beautiful Temple or in the street and slums within eyesight of that grand building? Did he meet the woman of Samaria in some awe-inspiring building? No! Did the people hearing his Sermon on the Mount care about not having a roof and air-conditioning? No! Jesus focused on people and could care less about a building called the church.

Why do so many seekers in their twenties and thirties want to attend that gigantic and beautiful Mega church with all its loud music and splendid sound system? I believe we have a generation who want “instant glory” and “programmed religion” because their entire life has been controlled. They had to all grab a rope in kindergarten to march to the bathroom and playground. Even their dolls and toys came with built-in stories and sounds. We need to help people use their imagination and think for themselves. My childhood only required a bath towel around the shoulders to be Superman and we wrote the script together as we played in the fresh air and sunshine. Our imaginations were stimulated to create a fantasy. The church needs to realize how much people need to be inspired in their minds rather than through the senses of typical “entertainment Christianity” today. When the institution and building become more important than the Christ we serve, we have stopped in the halfway place of institutionalism.

2. The halfway place of talking. Sjoren Kierkegaard had a marvelous parable about a goose. This strutting bird would walk about the barnyard telling all the other animals about the beauty of flying. He would jump upon a fence post and declare he was superior because he could fly. The earth he could see from the heights was so much more beautiful than what the other lowly animals could see from the ground. There was only one problem: that goose never flapped his wings and flew—he only talked about it!

How many of us talk endlessly about our faith, but never do anything about it? A story is told of the old country boy sitting in a boat out in the middle of a river. He was throwing sticks of dynamite into the water and fish would float to the surface. The game warden came out in his boat and told him what he was doing was illegal and he must write him a ticket. The old country boy lit a stick of dynamite, threw it into his lap and asked, “What ya gonna’ do, write me a ticket or help me fish?” We need to quit talking and start doing.

All of us are sickened by the changes in Baptist life, but how many are willing to attend conventions, speak up to our congregations about the wrongs, encourage our people to be aware of the fundamentalism which is ruling the day? If we are to preserve our heritage, we must do more than complain among ourselves. We must risk some church turmoil. We must encourage discussion of the issues even if church members may disagree with one another about their beliefs. We must educate people about the real nature of the Bible even if it troubles their simplistic and childish faith. Talk and action combine to make people grow. Talk without action only generates confusion.

Dietrick Bohnhoeffer wrote from the concentration camp: “When they came for the Gypsies, I said nothing—I was not a Gypsy. When they came for the Jews, I said nothing—I was not a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak up.” What a difference he could have made in stopping the Nazi takeover! If only enough brave people talked and acted to stop the political fundamentalism of Hitler, a World War might have been avoided! Do we quietly let evil reign because we might lose our retirement plan, or do we “tell it like it is” so people realize we need to get out and vote? We need to get out of the halfway place of talking and start doing.

3. The worst halfway place of all is the place of indifference. A good friend of mine was in Mexico at Fiesta time. As he enjoyed the parade with bands, fireworks, and colorful costumes, a tug came at his shirtsleeve. He looked down to see the dirty, tear-stained eyes of a little boy saying, “Por favor, senior, levanteme!” He pushed the child aside assuming he was begging for a handout as most poor children do. Again, he felt the tug, and, again, the same words: “Por favor, senior, levanteme!” This time he gave the child a strong shove and sent him on his way.

That night as he rested before going to sleep he went back over the events of the day, as was his custom. He remembered the bands and music with fireworks, and then he saw the child and heard the words he said. In the quiet of his room he dredged up his rusty Spanish and translated the request. It was “Please, mister, lift me up!” What a tragedy! The child wanted no money or handout —only to be lifted up so he could see. How many of us are so busy with being popular or famous—so busy building a big church with all the trimmings, that we miss the simple requests of so many: “Lift me up so I can see.”

When our personal self-interest makes us indifferent to the needs of the poor and lonely we are in a tragic halfway place. When our career goals and dreams keep us from doing anything but that which is popular we become indifferent to the truth and the need to be involved in preserving our heritage. Paige Patterson and Paul Pressler went around for years telling half-truths and fictional accounts of what was being taught at schools to incite a riot by uninformed people in Texas. They massed in buses to vote in the first conservative president—and we were indifferent. Before this freight train destroys everything, we must boldly declare the truth about Baptist heritage. We must quit trying to be popular and start insisting people look beneath the surface, lest we join Bohnhoeffer in his concentration camp regretting he kept his mouth shut in the halfway place of indifference.

I can see the final scenes in Terah’s life as he wiles away the hours rocking in a chair at little Haran. He settled for an oasis rather than the Promised Land. His grandchildren asked, “Grandfather, when are we going to the big place you said we would find? When are we going to see the beautiful rivers and fields?” Old Terah said, “One day we’ll go on, but I’m still resting. Leave me alone!”——And Terah died at the age of 205. How tragic! He started the journey of a lifetime full of promise. He only made half the journey and became contented. How tragic if any of us settle for an oasis instead of the Promised Land, full of milk and honey. Christ would never settle for halfway followers.

November 2003