There’s a church planting couple here in the NW that came from a traditional church, had worked in established ministry for years, and felt “called” to work with people in downtown Portland. I do not know these people well so I cannot speak with much insight as to how their lives and hearts have changed over years of doing this ministry. But I can tell you that their appearance has changed. She has had dreads (and has since cut them off and started them again), they have many piercings, tattoos, and they dress the part too. It might be easy for us skeptical types to look at them and make jokes about how they’re trying to look cool or something of that nature. But concerning the way they look my wife heard the woman say that the two of them did not set out to look different and change their appearance. Instead, she said, the more time you spend with a people and the more you fall in love with a people the more you want to look like them and be like them.
As I processed this I remembered me and my other tall and skinny white friend who lived in Portugal together. We stood out. We looked different. We were loud when we road the bus. We wore t-shirts and baggy jeans. But by the time we left some things had changed. Without ever trying or even thinking about it we acted differently in public settings. We dressed differently (embarrassingly enough we began to wear tighter jeans). In many ways, small ways, we began to look more like the people we were with.
I’m intrigued by this idea in two ways.
- Are you loving the people around you to the extent that you might start looking like them?
- Is your Christian community living and loving in such a way that people who hang out with you are starting to look like you?
I'm remembering man purses, black hair, tight jeans, tight euro-shirts, futebol lust, etc. Good times?
Why must Christians feel like they need to look the part or act a certain way in order to influence people to agree with their specific religious point of view? It is disingenuous and reprehensible. Don’t you realize we look fake and like salesmen? Don’t you think these people see your creepy underhanded tactics? They see right through your ulterior motives. Don’t you get it? I am in love with people who love others not because they are “called” to do this because of religious obligations but because they do it for purely selfless reasons. Because it is the right thing to do. Not for a reward or heaven or because they were told to do it. Cause let’s be honest, the paradigm the early church initiated was plain old “reward and punishment”.
Two questions.
Is it reprehensible to begin to look like others as you begin to see the underlying beauty in their appearance?
Can you unpack "the paradigm the early church initiated was plain old “reward and punishment”?
1. it is reprehensible to use appearance as a "tactic" to accomplish your objective, which is ultimately to convince someone to believe in the idea that you hold. of course there are other objectives and you should be applauded for feeding and clothing. but at the end of the day, aren't you ultimately doing it for the afterlife? which leads me into my #2.
2. let me first back up. the jewish idea of gods judgement was swift and final. sheol was the grave. the pit. the end. there wasn't the idea of eternal afterlife. hell was the grave and heaven was up inthe sky. where god lived. like all other cultures, these ideas grew and changed and evolved.
many of the words attributed to jesus are framed in "reward and punishment". this is totally understandable because it was the common premodern understanding of a supernatural deity.
we have no idea if there is something after this life. there might well be. but it is quite clear that the hebrew and christian documents do not tell a similar story about what comes next. these stories came about like every other religion. they hold truths, even if they are not literally true. a beautiful mix of history and metaphor. no one can untangle the two.
or perhaps you can? i would love to hear your thoughts.
bottom line. thank you for feeding people.
(thanks for allowing me to babble incoherently)