Love's Walls

A trip to the water's edge, the Spartan's greatest rivals, and two walls that changed the course of history.

This episode is the seventh installment in a ten-part series on learning to love with all our heart, part of a broader goal this year to study the greatest commandments – to love the Lord (and our neighbor) with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  In every account of the gospels, the command to love always begins with the heart… and today, we are going to look at what happens when our hearts need walls to go up and come down.

"Remember, you are loved, so go, love better!"

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Transcript

Walls are fascinating things.  We use them to separate spaces in our homes, keep out the elements, and provide privacy.  From retaining walls that hold back soil to soundproof walls that reduce sound transmission in audio studios… we have walls everywhere.  Fire walls to prevent the spread of fires to adjacent buildings, partition walls to divide studio apartments into cozy nooks and corners, even invisible walls called air curtains to keep the inside of Costco nice and toasty even with that big old warehouse door open.  Without walls you wouldn’t have privacy, safety, silence, or a sense of where one space ends and another begins.  And today, we are going to take a look at one of the most famous walls in the history of the world… and no, it isn’t the Great Wall of China.

I’m Scott Beyer and this is the Love Better podcast where we explore the truths and lies about love and more importantly how to turn love into a skill – something we can get better at and hone along the way.

This episode is the seventh installment in a ten-part series on learning to love with all our heart, part of a broader goal this year to study the greatest commandments – to love the Lord (and our neighbor) with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  In every account of the gospels, the command to love always begins with the heart… and today, we are going to look at what happens when our hearts need walls to go up and come down.

At over 6 miles long and tall enough to fend off an invading army, two parallel walls connected the ancient city of Piraeus to the much more well-known city of Athens.  These two walls were so impressive and powerful an engineering feat, that they are simply called ‘the Long Walls of Athens’… and they provided a level of freedom to Athens that was unheard of before – these walls allowed people to travel anywhere in the world they wanted to go – even during war.  The Long Walls didn’t just keep enemies out, they let the Athenians out, too.

Athens was a massive city by ancient standards, surrounded by its own impressive wall, it boasted a population of nearly 300,000 people and during the height of the Greek empire, Athens was the most influential city-state in the world.  It was a center of culture, politics, philosophy, and learning.  Athens was the dominant city in what the Greeks called the Delian League, a confederation of Greek city-states.  During what is called the Classical period, 5th and 4th century BC, the Greeks were the most powerful people in the world… and the most powerful Greeks were the Athenians… that is unless you asked the Spartans.  More on the Spartans later.

 The Long Walls of Athens were built because the Athenians were warriors, but unlike most armies, the Athenians had the most powerful navy in the world and had placed the bulk of their military training, innovation, and resources into naval forces.  So, while everyone else traveled by shank’s mare to get their army from place to place, the Athenians showed up by boat and ruled the Mediterranean.  The Athenian navy gave them control of the seas, it projected power to their enemies, and it allowed them to nimbly access resources from anywhere in the empire via the water.  There was only one problem – Athens wasn’t a port city.  The most powerful navy in the world had to travel seven miles by foot to get to the water.

So, they build a wall, two walls in fact to allow themselves to travel from Athens to Piraeus, their closest port city.  Roughly 1800 feet apart, or the equivalent of six city blocks in width, these two walls allowed the people of Athens to go about their business even if an entire army raged outside.  So what if the Spartans are setting siege, business continues as usual.  Goods and services are imported and exported, taxes are collected, and life could go on.  In short, long walls meant freedom.  And that is the real lesson of the long walls – when we set our walls in the right places, we can live our lives even as the armies gather on the other side.

  Because walls aren’t just about keeping things out, they are also about keeping things in.  Walls are boundaries… and good boundaries are part of learning to love better.

All hearts need walls and boundaries.  When we do it right, walls keep the good things in and the bad things out.  And the Bible emphasizes this idea of guarding and protecting your heart from the invading armies of life in many different places.  Take for example:

Proverbs 4:23 which tells us to “Guard our hearts with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

This language is exactly like the Athenian walls.  Every city knew that when an invading army was showing up, you needed to protect the most vital things like water springs so you could withstand a long siege.

Or Psalm 119:11 which says “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

Walls aren’t just for keeping the bad things out, they are also for keeping the good things in – namely, if you find a place in your heart to treasure God’s Word, you are much safer when the temptation of sin arrives.  If Scripture is in your heart, the devil’s whisperings are more easily ignored and resisted.

And in contrast to that, Jesus says in Mark 7 - "For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person."

When the things within our heart are evil, the actions that follow defile us.  Sin isn’t about what is outside the walls, it is about what is inside them.  Every day people hate, steal, hurt, and abuse others… but you don’t do those things until you let those influences in.

As 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Do not be misled, ‘Bad company corrupts good character’

Giving yourself walls and boundaries that will give the good room to flourish and keep the corrupt at bay is wisdom.  Set walls and boundaries around your television habits, the books you read, the music you listen to, the opinions you consume, and the friends you keep.  Jesus helped many people, but He allowed very few into His inner circle.  There was a reason for that.  Good walls let you do what Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  The Long Walls of Athens let them decide who came into their city and what went out of their city, they were secure and defended while also being able to interact with the world when appropriate.

Which is a reminder that walls that guard your hearts are only useful if they guard your hearts from the right things.  Boundaries are only healthy if you set them in the right spot.  For example, an unhealthy wall in the heart is when we wall ourselves off from forgiveness and reconciliation.

James warns about this when he says, “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:14-18)

Do you notice what James says?  If bitter jealousy and selfish ambition are in our hearts then their friends disorder and vile practice are there, too.  If we have walled jealousy and bitterness in, then we aren’t open to reason and we can’t be filled with mercy.

The Long Walls were an earth-shattering innovation for Athens.  They became a powerhouse – an empire that was both nimble and safe.  Travel anywhere while keeping the home fires safe and burning… but not everyone loved those walls.  Sparta was not amused.

The Greek empire wasn’t entirely unified like we think of nations today.  It was more of a collaboration between loosely-connected city-states… and within those alliances there were rivals.  Sparta was the great rival of Athens.  Sparta was a powerhouse, the entire city was an army – Spartan women used to tell their husbands as they were going off to war to either come back carrying their shield or come back on it – in other words, win or die… but losing wasn’t an option… but despite its military prowess, Sparta did not achieve the same level of cultural and intellectual prominence as Athens.  Sparta had the army, but Athens had the fame.  So, when Athens began to build the Long Walls, Sparta got really angry.

The Spartans viewed the construction of the Long Walls as a threat to its interests and the balance of power in Greece.  It allowed Athens to maintain control over its empire.  The Long Walls symbolized Athens’ power and it fueled Sparta’s fears and suspicions.

And that is exactly what always happens when you introduce boundaries and walls in your life – somebody is going to take it personally.  That old buddy that feels the distance because you go to church now on Sundays instead of out golfing.  The coworker that feels judged because you don’t laugh at the off-color jokes or watch the same shows everyone else is talking about.  The discomfort at the Thanksgiving table because your values don’t reflect and embrace the lifestyle of the extended family.  When we say ‘no’ to things, someone will become suspicious, angry, or hurt.  And you are going to need to prepare yourself for that because Jesus warned us that having a heart for God would be very upsetting to those around us.

Consider Jesus’ teaching to His apostles.  On the eve of His crucifixion, He gathered His apostles together to pray with them and try to prepare them for the journey that would soon face in the days ahead.  What does He tell them is coming?  How should they expect to be treated?  In John 15, He says
 
 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

We have two choices in life, build our own healthy walls, or assimilate and let the world build them for us.  If Satan had his way, there would be all sorts of walls in your life keeping you from God.  Don’t let him make that choice for you.  Accept the ridicule, suspicion, and yes, even hate, of the world and take control of your life.

Consider what happens otherwise – if we don’t set boundaries, relationships fall apart.  What happens when you don’t set boundaries in your marriage?  Feeling too close to the in-laws?  Maybe it is because you forgot the boundary of Genesis 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”  It might just be time to cut the apron strings and care more about what your husband or wife thinks than what your mom or dad do.
 
          Or what about in friendships?  Will you let your friends be those who flatter you when you assimilate or those who challenge you to be better.  Proverbs talks a lot about the flattering tongue and the damage that is done by embracing those who won’t love you enough to disagree with you.

How about in parenting?  Are you going to raise your kids like everyone else?  I hope not because frankly, the majority of people don’t do a great job.  Good parenting is intentional, it is different, and it is rare… and you better get used to other parents feeling judged when you don’t parent like they do.

In every area, building healthy walls means you are choosing to be different.  Think different, guard your heart differently, engage in different priorities, and love differently… but when we love biblically, not only do we love differently, we also love better.

I wish I could tell you that the Spartans lost and the Athenians won, but that isn’t what happened.  Eventually, Sparta vanquished Athens, but not because they destroyed the Long Walls.  They defeated them when Athens finally surrendered because even though the walls kept Sparta out… it kept another thing in – disease.  While Sparta stood outside the gates, a plague overtook the people within the walls until nearly 10% of the population of Athens died, including their leader Pericles.  Which is a good reminder that the most dangerous things in life are rarely the army without, but the diseases we allow to fester within.

If you want to love better, you can’t just keep walls up.  You have to cleanse yourself on the inside, too… and that sort of work is the hardest work of all.  When you begin to acknowledge the disease of sin in your life, confess it, repent of it, and pursue righteousness instead you have begun the process of removing disease from within the walls, but you can’t do that alone.  Just like a sick person needs a doctor, you are going to need Jesus to remove sin.  You are going to have to let Him in your walls.

We don't say it enough on this podcast – nobody loves better than Jesus… and if you want Him to help you, we would be happy to help you with that.  My email is scott@biblegrad.com and I’d be honored to connect you to a Christian in your area that can tell you about Jesus.  I’ve got friends all over the world that love Him and are loved by Him.  You can be one of those friends, too.

Learn to love better – learn to let Jesus in the walls.

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And until next time, “Remember, you are loved, so go… love better.”