You Can Come In

In grade school an acquaintance of mine loved to play a game during recess. Maybe you played it yourself. The children would divide into two groups. Half of them would hold hands and form a circle facing outward. The other half, facing inward, would form a larger circle (not holding hands) encircling the small circle. Then the group holding hands would yell, "You're out, you're out, you can't come in!" and the children in the outer circle would individually run toward the inner circle and try to break into the inner circle.

In playing the game two rules had to be strictly observed: if you were a runner, you could only try to break through once, and if you were a part of the inner circle you had to hold hands with the persons on either side of you. On and on the children would shout, "You're out, you're out, you can't come in," and each time the outsiders would attempt to break into the inner circle.

Unfortunately, we continue to play that game into adulthood. We play it in sororities and fraternities. "You're out, you're out, you can't come in!" We play it in churches over ordination issues. "You're out, you're out, you can't come in!" We play it in business boardrooms. We say to people of a certain color or a certain gender, "You're out, you're out, you can't come in."

Nothing New

It's nothing new. The Apostle Paul heard those words when he invited Gentiles into the church. The Jewish Christians objected to the invitation. They said (in so many words) to the Gentiles, "You're out, you're out, you can't come in." God even had to devote an entire book of the Bible to the subject of exclusion. Remember Jonah? God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh, but Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital of Israel's enemy, Assyria. Jonah pleaded, "God don't send me there. I don't want them in."

Jonah not only did not want them in, he wanted to get as far away from the them as possible. He despised the Ninevites so much he booked passage on a ship going in the opposite direction from them. God intervened, however, sent a storm and a whale to swallow Jonah, and after three days in the belly of a whale, God said to Jonah once again, "I want you to go to Nineveh." This time Jonah agreed to go, and he preached for three days, and everyone in the city converted. Jonah, however, was not pleased with the conversions because deep in his heart his mantra was "You're out, you're out, you can't come in." The book ends with Jonah at the outskirts of the city, ticked at God for God's letting the Ninevites in.

Standing on the Outside

If you have ever been on the outside trying to get in, you know how frightening, and frustrating, and unpleasant it can be. Jim Morrison of the 60's rock group "The Doors" put it well in the song, "People Are Strange." The song talks about being the stranger, the person on the outside. The haunting melody goes, "People are strange when you're a stranger, faces look ugly when you're alone. Women seem wicked when you're unwanted; streets are uneven when you are down. When you're strange, faces come out of the rain, when you're strange. No one remembers your name, when you're strange, when you're strange."

And that's what it's like being on the outside. It hurts to be the stranger. It hurts not to belong. On the other hand, it feels so good to belong. In the Peanuts cartoon strip, Peppermint Patty calls Charlie Brown on the telephone. "Marcie and I are about to leave for camp, Chuck," she says. "We're going to be swimming instructors."

Marcie takes the phone and adds, "We just called to say good-bye, Charles. We are going to miss you. We love you."

Charlie Brown's little sister, Sally, asks, "Who was that?"

Standing by the phone with an ear-splitting grin of joy on his face, Charlie Brown answers, "I think it was the right number."

It's a joy to feel loved. It's a joy to feel like you belong.

I'll close with "the rest of the story." That acquaintance of mine told me how he seldom made it in the circle back in grade school, and he probably would never have if it were not for Louise. Louise was a neighbor, and when he ran toward her she let go of the boy's hand next to her and let him in. The boy next to her objected. "She cheated," he said. "Louise let go of my hand and let him in." Then he turned to Louise and said, "If you play like that, everyone will get in the circle."

Louise said, "Yeah!"

God is like Louise. God shouts to us, "You can, you can, you can come in."

For the Group

1. What games did you enjoy playing during grade school?
2. Who was your "crowd" in high school?
3. Where are you feeling "in?" Where are you feeling "left out?"

Dick Meyer is the Director of the One Anothering Institute in Omaha NE and author of two books, One Anothering, Vol 1 & 2.