The Limits of New Stuff

We've been reading through the book of Exodus the past few weeks in the section of Ten Commandments.  Sometimes this can seem like a lifeless section of rules and regulations, but we can also see it as God helping us understand that we are limited beings and there are limitations that we need to live within to function in a healthy and life-giving way.  We also see in the rest of the story how God often breaks through our limitations with grace to provide us with what we lack.  So our limitations are not always something to fight, but something to teach us and something that reminds us of our neediness and reliance on God.  These insights are also very relevant to the situations we see our partner church going through.  We’ve been watching the family of the compound guard in the process of finding out that they need limits for their children and this guesthouse.  This family has suddenly had a brand new facility (even if it's not totally complete) put next door to them with a refrigerator, stove, additional satellite TV channels, and new comfortable couches.  With the teenagers using all of this stuff while they are over at their new favorite hangout place, the stuff will be very far from new (or even recognizable) soon!  Their family is partly responsible for taking care of this facility and for keeping it safe, so what benefits are they entitled to for using its amenities as well?  That's an interesting question in our own culture and is more difficult for us to understand the factors in a culture that is more communal and nuanced for how people owe each other for things.  The new leadership of our partner church is now immersed in formulating limitations for using this new guesthouse so it isn’t misused, but they also have similar situations in other properties and programs that they are earnestly searching for better and more trustworthy ways to manage.