well, hmm. i have a lot rattlin' around in my head.
i went out to lunch with an elderly couple from church, and conversation got a little interesting when the topic of body piercings came up.
there was a waitress there with the coolest lip piercing i've ever seen, and i asked her about it. conversation afterwards then went something along the lines of this:
me: oh, i like that one, maybe i could get a lip piercing like that...
gent: what's it say, glorify God in your body...
me: yeah totally, we glorify God in our bodies in so many different ways...!!!!
lady to gent: well, like your niece...
gent: well, she's not a christian, when you become a christian God gets rid of all that stuff.
me: i don't think He necessarily gets 'rid' of that stuff, He makes all kinds of people, some more colorful than others, and we all glorify God in our bodies in our own way.....
...conversation kind of ended at that point.
so... pink hair on me would be ok (at least tolerable, i gather from prior conversation).... but a lip piercing would be beyond the line?.... i guess it would revert me to a heathen...????
it's sometimes so obvious that people of various age groups look like their own age groups in various ways, period. whether old and staid, or young and wild, we all can run the risk of conforming to the 'worldly standards' of our age group..... and it can be really risky to go against conformity - whatever the source (world or 'church'), and find out who we are IN GOD, how He designed us, and be true His design....... conforming to His image in us, Him being the most creative, expressive BEING in existence.....
much of what's passed of as 'christian' is actually as worldly at it's root as things that are obviously worldly.... 'come, be a christian, and look like me....'
in contrast, we can *look* like the world, and let our actions and faith set us apart - not our clothing. IN the world, just not OF it....
many would actually say i'm too old for pink hair, never mind a lip piercing... when you're 15 maybe, but 35? that's like, *old*, man!!!! lol...
i guess this is a bit of an example of what's talked about in the book 'unchristian' - i see where the church has lots of perspectives that are just not .... free. they are not biblical. they are not Jesus's teaching. and that certainly makes them 'unchristian'....
if a person is like a box of crayons, God made them like crayons... is it 'for freedom I have set you free' to expect us to 'tone down' and let the color to go out of our lives? everyone makes personal choices in how they dress, accessorize, etc... what makes one 'more christian' than another?
God made peacocks to display His glory in a certain way - a peacock way. He created that into their very dna. are we gonna try to convert the peacock out of the peacock? how much more ridiculous is it to confine the image of God in us, His artistry and creativity that He placed in us????
well, gent said he had some scripture verses to support the piercing thing, and i'm like, been there, heard that, letter of the law..... you're wearing blending fabric aren't you? and shaving your side burns, tsk tsk.... good natured teasing... but if you're gonna dish it buddy, be prepared to take it, too, lol!!!! :D
i can see where young people see christianity as more lock and key, confining, than freedom.... and yet we try to tell them there's freedom in Christ, and in the same breath say, you can't be who authentic to who you feel God made you to be????? a huge dichotomy!!!!!! huge hypocrisy....
i'm a total mosaic christian, i am 100% passionate about calling myself a Christ-follower, but the label 'christian' is so TAINTED to today's world.... and i have to say, i totally agree.
if that's christianity, i don't want it.
fortunately for me, i have a pastor who has told me, time and time again over the years, that God made me colorful, and to NEVER EVER LET THAT CHANGE..... so i am well enough grounded in my faith - my relationship with Jesus - to know that God made me to express Him in a certain way - to glorify God in my body in a unique way - and i would be doing a disservice to the glorification of God if i am not living according to the design He designed into me.
my definition - ie. who i am - is not 'color' or 'expression' or 'creativity' or 'non-conformity' - it's CHILD OF GOD, 100%.... but how i express that relationship with Him will utilize any number of those things, as dictated by the inclination He has designed into my very being.
and He has given me the freedom to do so.
becuase it is for FREEDOM He has set me free.....
and i will walk in that freedom, even against the wishes of (but alongside!!!!) my captive brethren - unknowingly captive to a conformity of their own sort....
i would LOVE to be a fly on the wall of every single cell group for the duration of this study.... but a MUTE fly, cuz i imagine i could easily get frustrated!!! but i'm so curious as to how it's being received - or not - and why, and how it's working out in people's hearts and minds, etc. i'm just sooooo curious.....
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btw... yeah, i don't take care to capitalize 'christianity', whereas i do capitalize 'Christ'... why? i honestly do not think the world 'christianity' today reflects the honor and dignity of Christ, and thus doesn't deserve to have the honor of being capitalized (an honor which i give to little else than Christ Himself - i don't generally capitalize pronouns, personally or otherwise, unless they are or the deity, period...! lol)
I'm not a huge fan of how legalistic some people can get with their ideas of measly things like tattoos and piercings. Honestly, if someone could prove to me that God would shake his head at those things, or that having them somehow puts a barrier on who you can reach out to, I'd gladly stand corrected. But until then I'll enjoy my lip piercing and continue to ponder the idea of a new tattoo..
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