By Dennis Rowan

Several years ago I built a semi-permanent electric fence with three strands of wire. Three years later I tore it completely down and replaced it with better materials. More importantly I constructed it using five strands of wire. We now have on the farm, high tensile strands of wire on fences that are either four or five strands. A single strand can contain most horses, two or three can do a reasonable job with cattle, but sheep need at least five.

Sheep are must less likely to jump through these six strands of wire as compared to a fence with only three strands.

Three strands of wire for sheep is worse than no fence at all. Oh, you can with proper management contain sheep for a while with three strands, but in the long run a fence constructed with three strands of wire merely trains the sheep to jump through fences. Once the sheep learn they can easily penetrate the three strands of wire then the fence is useless. What is worse is the fact that the sheep then makes no distinction between three, four, or even five strands; they charge through all of them. The pulsating electric charge is not enough to deter a fast moving sheep with a coat of wool.

So it is in the life of man. Put God's standards aside, construct your own three-stranded wire fence and before long there is chaos. Letting children make important decisions too early in life is a three-stranded fence. I recently heard someone describe a PG (Parental Guidance) rated movie by saying it was not too bad. My three strands of wire was not too bad for a while. How does this sound to you; "It was not too ungodly."? How should a parent view a PG movie? He shouldn't. I use to be a little confused about what PG meant in the movie industry. I asked myself the question: "Does that mean I must view the film first to determine if it is suitable for children?" Or, "Do I simply decide if my child is mature enough to watch the film?" We are still dealing with three strands of sire. If someone has put a Parental Guidance rating on a movie it means there is questionable material in the movie. If it is questionable, I don't need to view it. Children who watch PG movies are being trained to jump through the fences, pure and simple.

Several years ago I met what I considered to be a "real spiritual" married couple who were very active in their local church. I was shocked to learn that they had a teen-ager who chose not to attend chuch with them. Sadly, I have found that to be true with many church-goers. In other cases parents may require their children to attend Sunday morning services, but let the children decide if they want to attend other activities such as youth meetings. We get down to about one or two strands of wire when we let young children decide whether or not they will accompany their parents to church.

I have learned from Christian School administrators that it is not uncommon for Christain parents to let their children decide whether they attend a secular or Christian school. I question the wisdom of telling a child he must do certain things like go to the doctor or dentist, but when it comes to matters of Christianity, then the child is placed on his own to decide. Three strands of wire won't hold my sheep, and they won't hold our children. For that matter, three strands of wire won't hold you and me either.

For me personally, one of the most difficult areas of my life is putting up and keeping the fourth and fifth strands of wire that relate to daily Bible study and prayer. I know it is the correct thing to do, but the "cares of this world" have a way of tearing down that fence. Check these statistics for the value of a fence that keeps you in the right pasture: divorce rate for Christians who attend church together is one out of 50 while the divorce rate among all Americans is one out of two. The divorce rate for Christians who attend church and also pray together regularly is one out of over 1150. (source: What God Hath Joined, by Robert Paul Lamb, Eternal word Publishing, 1989) You will not hear that statistic on the six o'clock news or read it in a school textbook. Does prayer build fence?

From the guidance we give young people in their formative years to the self-descipline we develop ourselves, it is imperative that well defined boundries surpass the three-stranded variety I had for my sheep. However, we do need to realize that strict legalism based on man-made rules can also fall short. Jesus said it this way, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. (Matt. 23:25, NIV)