Can I Say I Am Offended

Well, another year is gone and the world in which we live has changed so much.  I tell folks all the time that this is not our daddy’s Alabama.  It is most definitely not our dad’s nation.

Things from the White House, to the Governor’s house, to the Court House, to the church house, and to our house seems to be in shambles.  With each passing day, yesterday’s shock is today’s commonplace.

I was at a meeting not too long ago where the people leading the music looked as though that had slept in their clothes and got right out of bed without combing their hair and went right to the stage to try to lead me in worship.  I guess I am old fashion, I was taught to bring your best to worship.

A speaker that was not dressed much better then followed these uncouth and shoddy looking leaders of praise.  They say they do this as not to offend anyone.  Can I say that I am offended!  They say they want everyone to feel welcomed.  I did not! 

Here’s where I have the rub.  It is okay to come before the Kings of kings dressed in the ragged, shabby clothes and unruly hair but wear the newest styles of tuxedoes and gowns to a prom or dinner engagement where most will bow down to the god of debauchery and hedonism.  Something is wrong with that picture.

While growing up we were poor and did not have much, however we wore our Sunday best to worship.  I know that there are times where we may not have our best at worship, but is the exception rather than the rule.

Malcolm Gladwell has a great book, The Tipping Point.  The subtitle is “How Little Things Make a Big Difference.”  I recommend it.  One principle came very close to home and it reminds me of this stylish trend, or lack of style in our churches.

If the owner of property does not care for his possession, he gives the okay to vandalize it.  The case in point was the old house behind the Pastorium when I lived in Linden.  When I first moved to Linden, the old house was in good shape.  As the grass and weeds grew, so did the vandalism.  It did not matter how much I tried to watch the abandoned house, windows were broken, doors were torn off, and graffiti appeared.  The owner’s neglect was the perpetrator’s license to deface.

“An epidemic theory of crime can start with a broken window and spread to an entire community.  The tipping point is not with a particular kind of person but physical graffiti. The impetus to engage in a certain kind of behavior is not coming from a certain kind of person but from a feature of the environment.”

Brother Bobby, “What has this to do with church worship?” Glad you asked.  At some point in the property owner’s neglect, the right to trash the place tipped to the perpetrator.  Had the owner given the slightest attention to his property, the destruction would not happen or least delayed it.  There is a point in time when things tip the other way.

At some point and time, church attire tipped from “giving our best to it is okay to be a mess.”  It is true that Jesus takes us, as we are, to which I am eternally thankful.  But, what happened to repentance and change?  Early church converts were given new clothes after baptism to signify a change.  Samford’s Beeson School of Divinity’s Chapel has a painting showing this tradition.

Ron is a modern day example.  Ron visited Friendship Baptist Church in Clanton when I was pastor there.  Ron had long hair, beard, earrings, and dressed like a hippy.  Yes, he wore sandals.  He was welcomed just as he was and no one mentioned his appearance.  We did not have a dress code.  Every thing from three-piece suits to blue jeans and T-shirts was acceptable.  I do not remember anyone looking like they slept in their clothes, although I thought I saw a kid or two and lady or two that did not fix their hair.

Ron continued to come and one Sunday he came forward during the invitation and told me that he wanted to be saved.  I shared the Gospel with him and he prayed the sinner’s prayer.  The following Sunday this handsome, clean-shaven, earring less young man in suit and tie with dress shoes appeared.  Everyone told Ron how nice he looked.  He said God changed him.

What happened to the church setting the trend?  The church has lost its influence in the community.  As a result, lifestyles and moral behavior in society have tipped from Christian principles to secularism and immorality.  There is a war on Christian government and citizenship as I write this article.  Right is wrong and wrong is right nowadays.  Some compare our world to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Can I say that there is nothing new under the sun?  One big difference today is technology allows one to capture events as they happen, rather than hearing about it later.

Solomon says, “Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions (Ecclesiastes 7:10 NIV).