Surprise Me God #10
Gray areas of life. The fringe places that we see. The places where we don't care one way or another. Maybe. I don't care. Whatever.
Tuesday night, I ended up in a conversation about yes, no and grey areas. I had said when I talk to the kids oftentimes I will just ask "do you have a stomachache? Yes or No" There is no maybe, there is no "I had one this morning." Do you have one right now... Yes or No.
It seems God is removing the grey areas from my life. I'm either for Him or against Him. There is no lukewarm.
Wednesday, it escalated. And how did I get to this point? This rabbit trail of information?
Skif told me last night, he wanted to put the Weird Al Yankovich version of that song as his ring tone when he gets his own cell phone.
I told him "no." I don't approve. The original is completely wrong. Foul language, sexual references, breaking the law. And that's just the parts that I can understand. I'd have to look up the rest. (I actually asked the school resource officer to help me with what it meant.)
If I let him put the remake on as a ring tone, what do you hear? What is the first thing that comes to mind if you aren't a Christian? Is it the funny version or the original version? What type of message am I sending? If I allow it, then as far as I can tell, I'm saying I approve of the behavior in the song.
I brought up the tv show that we have argued over already. It doesn't matter that the people on the show are being nice and fixing up someone's car for them. What does the title say?
I have tried to explain that a p*mp is a person, esp. a man, who solicits customers for a prostitute or a brothel, usually in return for a share of the earnings; pander; procurer. (definition from dictionary.com)
If I allow her to watch the show, I am condoning and approving of it. Title and all. It's not right.
At some point, I have to chose to make a stand. What message am I sending? What message do I want to send? Am I for God or against God?
This may sound totally over the top. But where is the line in the sand? And as the waves come, the line moves and how long does it take for my sense of the moral and ethic to change to where it is unrecognizable from the world's?
To say that this created a storm in my house is an understatement. Skif was mad and said all you and Talia do is fight.
It's hard to explain to an 11 year old. When we got home, she ran into our room and began to sob. I went in to try and talk to her but she wasn't hearing me. I gave up and went back to the living room.
Then I called Skif out. I asked him if he was proud of the reaction that occured? I explained that his egging things on does not help. I tried to explain the song thing and car thing. I tried to explain that it's yes or no and if he choses to accept those things how long before he's doing things that aren't acceptable in God's eyes? He finally went to bed. He's still angry today.
Talia came out and climbed up in my lap after about 30 minutes. We talked for quite a while. I started over explaining the whole song/car thing again. Then I asked her what Jesus would say about the song/car issue. She told me he wouldn't listen it/watch to it. I asked her why she would? She told me that they do something good in the show. Again I explained it's either you agree or you don't agree. You're saying that Jesus wouldn't watch it because it's showing the wrong things but it's still ok for you. Where is the right or wrong in this?
As I talked to her, I compared her to a flower. She is just a bud right now. The things of this world want to batter and scar her, tearing at her, causing her to compromise. And with these things happening, when she blooms, she too will be bruised and torn.
God wants her whole, pure, holy. The fragrance pleasing and acceptable to the Lord.
I know the things I talked with her about may be over her head a bit, but I want her to think about these things.
And as we talked, she brought up a scripture that the youth pastor used during his sermon.
I told her this was a good example.
I asked her the following question. If you aren't a Christian but you give a lot of money to help the poor, where will you go... Heaven or Hell? Did it make any difference that you were good if you didn't know the Lord, if you aren't saved?
Sometimes we have to chose to make a stand. It may not be popular. It may not make you popular. But who am I supposed to be pleasing? Man or God?
Is the life I'm leading one that makes a glorifies God? Are the things I am chosing to do say I'm following Christ?
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