The Outside of the Asylum

One of my favorite authors is Douglas Adams.  He wrote a series of books which are known as “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”.  They follow the life of Arthur Dent, a rather ordinary Englishman who, without any real warning, suddenly finds himself on a series of adventures traveling through time and space.

On a trip back to Earth, Arthur meets a man named John Watson.  Mr. Watson--well, I’ll let wikipedia explain it:  

John Watson, also known (at his own request) as Wonko the Sane, was a marine biologist and scientist.  He and his wife lived in a curious place called The Outside of the Asylum.  John calls himself “Wonko” in order to remind himself that a scientist must be like a child in having no preconceived notions--”Wonko” being a childhood nickname bestowed by his mother.  Wonko added the epithet “the Sane” to his name in order to reassure people of his sanity.

The Asylum was set up one day after Watson came across a set of detailed instructions on a set of toothpicks:  “Hold stick near center of its length.  Moisten pointed end in mouth.  Insert in tooth space, blunt end next to gum.  Use gentle in-out motion.”  Watson, distressed and fearing for the sanity of a world which needed detailed instructions in order to use a toothpick properly, built the Asylum to put it in and help it get better.  The Asylum is a four-walled house turned inside out.  That which one would be inclined to take as the door into the house opens into a lawn with benches and walking paths.  This is the area Watson calls outside the Asylum.  Thus, the Asylum contains the entire world, save for that small outside area.  Within that small outside area, Watson has mounted the instructions for the toothpicks, in order to discourage himself and others from going back into the Asylum.

So other than showing I like strange books, what’s the point?  The point is that I sometimes have days where I feel like Wonko the Sane.  I watch the news and I feel like the whole rest of the world has gone crazy, and I’m the only sane one left.  The idea that men should use the men’s room and women should use the ladies’ room has become controversial.  Choosing whether to watch an NFL game has become a political statement.  And then, of course, we have things like the Las Vegas shooting that make the feeling even stronger.  I could go on and on, and so could you.  And I suspect, sometimes, you feel the same way--like the world has gone crazy and you’re the only sane one left in it.

It’s tempting, when we feel like that, to do what Wonko did.  It’s tempting to just withdraw from society.  Let the crazy world go crazy.  Don’t try to do anything about it.  Live a quiet life, keep to yourself, and just watch the world go by in whatever way it decides to go.

The thing is, though, that’s not what Jesus told us to do.  Jesus told us to go and make disciples.  Jesus told us to love our neighbor as ourselves.  It’s pretty hard to make disciples if we’ve withdrawn from society.  It’s pretty hard to love our neighbors if we keep to ourselves and watch the world go by.  The only way we can make disciples of Jesus Christ is to go out and be part of the world.  The only way we can love our neighbors is to go out and meet them where they are and become a part of their lives.  In other words, the only way we can really be followers of Jesus Christ is to be a part of the messy, crazy world that’s out there.

Jesus never withdrew from the world.  We shouldn’t, either.  Wherever you are, whatever you do, find a way to be engaged and involved in the world around you.  Interact with the people you can interact with.  Influence the people you can influence.  Do what you can to bring people to faith or to strengthen the faith of those who already have it.

It’s okay to step out of the Asylum once in a while, to recharge--Jesus did that, too.  But ultimately, we need to get back into the world and do what we can to love our neighbors and make disciples of Jesus Christ.