Outside the Lines

There were eighteen of us, nine girls and nine boys. Our parents dropped us off in the morning at the high school entrance, and we were quietly led down a long hallway to our classroom. Our kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Craft, greeted each of us with a smile and directed us to place our napping mats at the back of the room.

Throughout the day, we only left our classroom for recess and lunch. The rest of our time was spent with Mrs. Craft, who diligently taught us the lesson plans she had prepared the night before. After lunch, we settled at our desks as Mrs. Craft distributed our art assignments. Each day, we received a picture and our task was to retrieve our crayons from the desks and color the picture. The most important part of the assignment was to stay inside the lines, using colors that best exemplified the character or scene. If the picture portrayed a tree, we reached for our brown and green crayons; for a sunrise, our blue and yellow crayons were the choices.

Mrs. Craft dedicated extra time each week to the children who struggled with staying inside the lines or using the wrong colors. As we sat at our desks, we could hear her instructions to those who faced difficulties. Although she didn't intentionally shame the struggling children, I now realize that those who colored outside the lines quietly carried a sense of shame. Meanwhile, the children who stayed within the lines were praised and rewarded with extra recess time to be with friends, while the struggling ones remained indoors, practicing coloring with Mrs. Craft.

Growing up, my parents instilled in me a sense of morality and the importance of following rules. I always stayed inside the lines, never challenging their instructions. Every Sunday, I attended Sunday school at church and sat alongside other children, learning lessons that aimed to bring us closer to God. We were taught to suppress our emotions and never reveal our true feelings, always staying within the lines.

As an adult and a father of four children, I have personally experienced the significance of coloring outside the lines. As parents, we cannot ignore that the lines we were told to stay inside were not boundaries but rather prison walls, for which we handed others the key. We conformed to these lines out of fear, afraid of the consequences if we dared to color beyond their confines.

Steve Stockman's statement, "a need for precision and perfection has always been an enemy of art, which is about coloring outside the lines. It is also an enemy of the reality that following Jesus is a journey, not an arrival," describes Ashley, my artist friend. From an early age, she defied the lines and faced different treatment from her father compared to her sisters. She had to learn to ignore the shame and block out the voices that claimed she could never succeed as an artist. Ashley has always chosen to color outside the lines.

Albert Einstein echoes Ashley's approach with his words, "to live life to the fullest, you have to color outside the lines once in a while if you want to make your life a masterpiece. Laugh some every day. Keep growing, keep dreaming, keep following your heart. The important thing is not to stop questioning."

This was the lesson we were not taught in kindergarten. Instead of sitting at our desks, being instructed to stay inside the lines, we should have been encouraged to question why it was so important. Why did we need to conform? Tim Keller captures the issue with this instruction, as the pursuit of perfection eventually becomes our identity in everything we do. As Keller writes, "If you make work your identity and you succeed, it'll go to your head. If you fail, it'll go to your heart."

None of us can continuously stay inside the lines. Attempting to make our world perfect every day will only lead to ruining our lives. We will never fully learn to be ourselves. As Oswald Chambers wrote, "When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don't make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don't try to make it sweet. Take things as they come."

Steve Stockman's earlier statement highlights the conflict between the pursuit of precision and perfection and the true essence of art and spiritual growth. Artistic expression often thrives when boundaries are challenged, allowing for creativity and individuality. Similarly, the journey of following Jesus is not a fixed destination but a continuous process of growth and exploration. Our courage to embrace our imperfections and question the norms of this world will lead us to grow both personally and spiritually.

In essence, “we cannot wait for life to become easy before deciding to be happy.” Nightbirde. It begins with embracing our imperfections and coloring outside the lines. God’s masterpiece is within all of us.

“As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.”

Mark 1:16-18 NIV