Needed: "Intimacy Hedges"

Douglas Wilson is the pastor of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho.  He's a wonderful writer and thinker, and he has gifted us this New Year with a very insightful blog post entitled "Priests with Spears."  In summary, this is a post contra the culture's tendency toward what Wilson calls, rightly, "Oprahfication."  Wilson argues that unhindered "sharing" actually destroys trust and inhibits healthy communication amongst the faithful. What's the solution? Here's an excerpt:

This standard could be called an intimacy hedge. Outsiders are not privileged to share in certain things that do not belong to them. The same standard, adjusted in accordance with the situation, applied to our kids growing up. Outside the family, you just don't talk about certain things. I am not talking about a hypocrisy wall; I am talking about an intimacy hedge. A family full of sin that "keeps up appearances" is no good either. This realm of intimacy means that you protect something in order to give to your wife and family, and it is known by them to be precious because you refuse to share it with anybody else. When the walls of the vineyard are broken down, the wild boars cannot be wished away (Ps. 80:12-13). If you lament the state of your vineyard, one thing to check would be the fences.

All pastors and parishioners should read the whole thing.