Woven fabric is made of many pieces of yarn laid out lengthwise and a single, long piece of yarn running back and forth crosswise; being drawn over and under. Weavers call the lengthwise pieces the warp and the crosswise piece the weft. The warp will never be a fabric without the weft to hold it all together.
We often hear the phrase: “the fabric of society” in public discourse and private conversation. Every society, whether it be a city, town, neighborhood, or community is a complex system comprised of many individuals working and living together to create a civil, safe, and prosperous world in which to live. Politicians, preachers, and pundits will often identify threats to this “fabric”, warning that this, that, or the other thing threatens to tear it all up. Now, in the weaver’s work, the warp isn’t nearly as important as the weft. Any number of single threads can fail or tear or be pulled out and it won’t compromise the whole. But if the long, crosswise weft thread is removed, there is no fabric left to speak of. All that remains is a pile of yarn. As we examine the fabric of our society today, we need not worry so much about Hollywood, Washington D.C., or any other of the many individual entities that lay alongside each other across our land. What we need to worry about is whether or not the weft thread of the truth of Scripture, the fear of God, and the Biblical worldview is holding strong; binding us all together. It’s overwhelming to bear the burden of the whole world and the fabric of its construction. But we need not be Atlas. God has called us to make sure that the weft of His Word runs first through our own hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits; making secure the society of our souls. Second, we ensure that reverence for God runs crosswise through every room and relationship in the family home. And finally we work to make sure that God’s will and way holds our church family together by God’s Word being drawn over and under every committee, program, ministry, budget, and member at Emmanuel. What God weaves together this way across an entire land is part of the miracle of the Holy Spirit’s work of revival. The warp and weft of the world has everything to do with the warp and weft of the self.
