As I sat thinking as to how I would tell my parents about my conviction, I asked myself, "What's the most challenging, enlightening, and tactful way I could present my conviction to my parents." So it hit me. Don't ask them to debate me, but ask them to examine scripture. It seems kind of like a "duh" thing, but I wanted to make absolutely sure I remained tactful and loving toward them, but still challenge them. The last thing I want to do (as previously stated) is come off as "just another rebellious teen." Surprisingly, they were incredibly open to it. Here are the three things that my proposition asks of them.
Challenging- It forces them to search, examine, and make inferences regarding the teachings of Christ and the rest of Scripture (mostly the New Testament.)
Enlightening- Hopefully, through the examination of Scripture, their minds will be opened and they will realize what Scriptures say ( or don't say) regarding this particular issue.
Tactful- Basically, they can argue with me and and my personal beliefs, but they CAN NOT argue with Scripture. My approach alleviates any friction that might come about because of such a sensitive ("sensitive"-whodathunkit?) issue.
Shane Claiborne tells a story in his book The Irresistable Revolution. It goes something like this: There is a young boy walking along the road one day when he sees a house in flames (I'm not talking about a little kitchen fire, I mean FREAKIN ABLAZE!). So the boy runs to the house next door and grabs the water hose, turns it on, and runs over to the house that's on fire. As he begins to spray the flames he realizes that across the street from the house there are several fire trucks full of sleeping firemen! Now the boy faces a choice. He can continue to spray the fire with his puny little hose. OOOOOORRRR, he can spray the firemen, waking them up and they can put out the fire together, and with much more firepower (or.....eh.....waterpower.)
I know that there are many people who see things wrong with the American church. They are are completely cool with wearing raggedy clothes to Sunday morning church gatherings. But knowing HOW to put out a fire and actually PUTTING out the fire are two different things. People who know HOW to do something are a dime-a-dozen. But those that are actually willing to do it are much more rare. I'm hoping that the number of people who are fed up with this nonsense will increase, and that those people will actually put their anger (righteous anger, i might add) into play.
And just a clarifier, When i said that I don't think that coming on Sunday mornings to the sanctuary is fellowship, i didn't mean that it cannot become fellowship. I just meant that in its present state, for the most part, it is not anything close to fellowship.
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2 comments:
It's not just the act of wearing dress clothes or casual clothes. You're not going for the act, you're going for what it represents. In this case, you're attempting to nail your proverbial theses to the chapel wall in Wittenberg (a la Martin Luther).
And here's the part where it's easy to come to a standstill if we debate ourselves too much (as I'm prone to do on occasion). This is a sleeping fireman scenario, too, I'm afraid.
The argument with self:
If we use our style of dress (or hair color -- anything physical like that) to call attention to a problem, we'll be calling attention to ourselves. But aren't we supposed to avoid doing things that call attention to ourselves? Yes, but this would actually serve the purpose of (hopefully) calling people's attention to the pure Word of God rather than, as you aptly note, a man-made "rule" that's developed into a tradition.
You're past that argument, and you've decided not to let it hold you back (if you had the argument with yourself, that is). I really applaud that. Where do I sign up? :)
Glad to hear that about how you approached the discussion with your parents and the fact that they were incredibly open to your plan!
By the way, it's easy to say that we should never call attention to ourselves. Paul, however, had some real audactiy and did this very thing when he point-blank told the church at Corinth, "Imitate me, as I imitate Christ."
I think I rambled, but hopefully made some sense.
Also, don't forget that for many people, they really, honestly want to give the day special significance. It's the opportunity to meet with other believers and recognize Sunday as the Lord's Day (or Saturday as the Sabbath). It's not tradition for them as much as it's a personal way they can show honor to God.
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