Picket Fences and Rainbows, Part Three

I enjoyed hearing from a few of you concerning things you believed made you a "good Christian." Some of your comments made me laugh, and others brought back some pretty strong and ugly memories. On the light side, many of you share my extreme dislike of hose and culottes. But one of the most hurtful things I heard concerned the treatment of women.

One reader wrote: "How about women are to be seen and not heard? Or women should never question a man in authority, pastor, husband, Sunday school teacher....ANY MAN for that matter! Obey and never ask why!!" In some families, this applied to any male in the family over the age of twelve! And in many, many churches, women could not prayer or read scripture if a male was in the audience. This puzzles me because God treats each of us as His children, and the Holy Spirit dwells in all of us.

Suffice it to say that many of the things we did in the name of being a good Christian really messed with our thought patterns and attitudes. A friend shared an article on Facebook this morning pointing out some of the common issues. Here's the link: The Sad Twisted Truth About Conservative Christianity's Effect on the Mind. And the promise that all will be well if we were "good kids" and "rejoiced always" and "praised the Lord anyway" fell through and hit the depths of our heart with a sickening and resounding thud.

We grew up. And some marriages failed. And some of our children turned away from God. And bad things happened. Not just a few bad things, and not just little things, but huge life-altering, OH GOD, WHY? things, one on top of another. And the picket fences broke and the paint peeled, and cancer, and sickness and death happened, and debts came, and the rainbows hid behind dark clouds or ended in the yard of some awful low life that didn't deserve the blessing like you did. Why? Why? Why?

And then, the Holy Spirit gently reminds us of the good things that actually do come from the source that all those long sermons and empty promises of our childhood claimed to use but messed up: God's Living Word. 

I Corinthians 4:7-12 (ESV). 

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken;struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Pleasing God has nothing to do with wearing hose, cutting hair, working ourselves silly, and going to church every Sunday. It has everything to do with His provision and grace. We suffer because we live in a sinful, imperfect world as sinful, imperfect people, where the effects of sin cause bad, imperfect terrible things to happen. But God, says that he fills these sinful, imperfect vessels or "jars of clay" with treasure. Showing that He gives us the good things, and that we can not earn them. It's just Him. That's all. Period. 

So, where are our picket fences and rainbows? In I Corinthians 4, we read in verses 16 through 18:

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Our picket fences and rainbows come on this earth in the smile of a friend, the warmth of a child's hug, and for me-chocolate. 
But our eternal "picket fences and rainbows" wait ahead in Heaven, where all our struggles and worries will seem as silly and transient as the tears of a toddler crying over a perceived injustice. 

We have just a short time here in this imperfect, sinful, temporary world. Our destination is perfect, timeless, and forever! What now seems so monumental and virtually unbearable (and it is as long as we are here) will dissipate. Glory is ahead. We shall see Him! We won't even need picket fences, and the rainbows will circle the throne of God! 

That's a wonderful promise, something to really hold on to take us through these awful times. Heaven is waiting! 

Looking ahead!

Teapotjan

Hippy Teapots

I remember the shock wave that went through my small childhood church when they first walked in to the auditorium. If my mother had not made me turn around for the sake of politeness I would have stared at them as any fundamentalist nine year old child would at this embodiment of sin. The church members initial reactions ranged from looks of disgust to an actual withdrawing to other, safer pews. I snuck glances at them whenever mom wasn't looking at me. Sinners had entered the church! It was a young couple holding their beautiful little blonde-haired girl. He had hair down to his waist, and she had a dress halfway up her legs. I could only think "hippies!" It was 1970 after all.

The young couple came to church because they were scared and needed help. Their daughter showed adverse signs from their use of drugs and they wanted to change whatever they could to help her. Many of the church members truly would have nothing to do with them. Nothing. They raced by them avoiding all eye contact as if a glance would send them into drug-induced hallucinations. Thinking back, I am amazed that this couple didn't turn away from church and God completely. But the concern for how their lifestyle could hurt their child had drawn them in and their love for her kept them there long enough to meet one of the few people in that church that knew how to act. It was my mom. 

She and my dad invited them to dinner, cooed and cuddled their little girl, and led them to Jesus. For several years, that couple and their children were frequent guests in our home. They grew in the Lord, completely left behind all use of drugs, and raised lovely, healthy children. I haven't heard from them in decades, but I'm sure I'll get to see them again in Heaven.

It may seem that this kind of thing wouldn't happen today, but it does. I've seen it. Big "F" fundamental folk still seem to expect the unsaved to act. . . well . . . . saved. Any difference in dress, appearance, and action warrants a withdrawal. A guy with hair over his ears, a girl with a pierced cartilage, clothing too casual, too denim, too short, too long are all deemed worldly. And the very people that should be reaching out, self-proclaimed Christians, instead pull back, hush their children and warn them to stay far away. Then place their children in Christian schools, Christian sports leagues, Christian clubs, and then wonder why they can't handle the real world when they get there.

Now, I don't think that there is anything wrong with any of the Christian things mentioned above. I'll get into some of that in another post. But I do take issue of the complete separation of Christians from everything and everyone in the world. It leads to the same wide-eyed shock I felt when that young couple walked into my church seeking help. I can't help but think that the drop in church attendance and the influence of God's people came from this "not of of any part of this world no way no how" mentality. 

Again, in the interest of keeping these entries short, I'll stop for now and write more tomorrow. Meanwhile, let's examine our reactions to those who are not like us in spiritual matters and compare them to Christ's reactions during His time on earth. And pray that God gives us the ability to reach out to Hippy Teapots.