Have you ever heard the phrase, “You can’t push a rope”? It’s an old saying, and you often hear motivational or financial speakers make reference to it. I get a mental picture of a thick coil of rope like we use for tug of war. I read this explanation: “The reason pulling is efficient is because the taut rope transmits force in only one direction – along the axis of the rope – and transmits it to the object it’s tied to. A non-taut rope doesn’t transmit directionally … and its flexibility means the rope changes shape easier than the object moves.” So basically, a rope sustains tension better than compression.
Dave Ramer was speaking today, and one thing he said brought this example to mind. He said “If we make you feel ok about a current complacent lifestyle, that is absolutely deadly to you!” Essentially, he was saying that one thing we (as a ministry, as pastors, as christian brothers and sisters) are responsible to do for each other is to provide a certain amount of tension. I don’t mean tension in the sense of causing anxiety or stress, but tension as a level of force that keeps us accountable. To be honest, if we are always around people who never call us out on our apathy or complacency, its time to find new friends. Again, I don’t mean you run around criticizing your friends; rather you are always calling them up. You are speaking life to them; encouraging them; calling out the good accomplishments; helping them reach goals; talking to them when they want to give up; listening when things are tough; being willing to say the hard things to them — but in all of that, you are pointing them upward. Spurring them on out of complacency. This is the tension of pulling a rope. See, that is what the Lord has done for us — David said it so well in Psalm 40 — to pull us up out of the miry clay that we were sinking in and set our feet on a rock. This is such a powerful visual to me. I think of being trapped in that thick red clay that grabs you and doesn’t let go, and sinking to my thighs where I can’t get out. I call for help, and see a chopper in the sky, and suddenly, down comes a thick rope. I grab on to it with both hands, and slowly and firmly I am pulled upward, and the clay makes a slurpy, sucking sound as I am released, dripping mud everywhere. I am hoisted up to a high place and set firmly on a giant slab of granite. Jesus is in that chopper, and he meets me on the rock and says, “See, I have set your feet upon a rock — now trust me and I will direct your path so that you will avoid getting stuck in these clay pits.
When you try and push a rope, it’s ineffective. The rope just bunches up and really doesn’t go anywhere. I think of this as trying to operate in your flesh. It’s as if you have no power because you are giving human knowledge rather than godly wisdom. So when you push on it, the person goes this way and that way, but in the end… no where really but a jumbled mess. Despite good intentions, our best “wisdom” doesn’t really produce TRUE directional force. That wisdom can only come from Christ.
It is the Holy Spirit who moves the heart to recognize the need to be pulled out of apathy and complacency. It is a part of our job to provide accountability, and thus tension, to our brothers and sisters in our community along the journey. It is healthy. It is necessary. It causes us to grow closer with each other, and closer to Christ. So in that respect, we all need to be pulling a little more on some ropes.