It's been so long since they've taken them off that I'm not sure either of them could even if they tried. Not even to polish them.
That's a feat I want to accomplish someday.
Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
My role models
My parents' wedding rings are kind of awesome. Oh, they're scratched and dull, but after 42 years of marriage, both rings have worn down a permanent groove on their ring fingers.
It's been so long since they've taken them off that I'm not sure either of them could even if they tried. Not even to polish them.
That's a feat I want to accomplish someday.
It's been so long since they've taken them off that I'm not sure either of them could even if they tried. Not even to polish them.
That's a feat I want to accomplish someday.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Ambassador meets politician - the chicken conundrum
To my fellow disciples of Christ:
The big news this week has not been a fiasco. It has not been a triumph either. The world is fallen and words are used and abused every day; it just became more apparent this week. It's one shining example in a sea of humanity.
We are in a nation experiencing culture shock within its own borders. The reason? The Kingdom of God has no borders.
Christians will always be strangers in a strange land, wherever we live. I consider myself blessed to live in the U.S.A., but my first allegiance is not to my country of birth but to my kingdom of rebirth.
When U.S. citizens meet Kingdom citizens, culture shock is the norm, not the exception. We have different values, and vastly different definitions for the same words, thus we speak different languages. But we somehow still expect that we'll understand each other easily, with all the nuances and undertones that exist in the universe.
This is how words are so easily misunderstood: two very different groups of people can read the very same set of words and feel very differently about them. Did I say very enough for you?
One group reads a message of hate and intolerance, the other group reads a message of steadfast - yet tough - love, tempered with thankfulness.
Are either of these groups wrong in their interpretation?
No, because (again) they are citizens of different kingdoms. In one kingdom, those words are fighting words, filled with anger and venom directed at a specific group of people. In the other kingdom, those words are just as dispassionate as stating that the grass is going to die because we didn't water it enough, and being thankful that we have water.
Comments about dying grass can get ugly, too. If you tell your neighbor he doesn't water enough, he's gonna be offended. Maybe he just doesn't want to water his grass. Maybe he doesn't want to pay a higher bill. So where do we draw the line?
We can start by remembering that we're ambassadors, not politicians. A politician is talking to his own statesmen and has a general idea of what he needs to say to garner more votes. An ambassador is a representative of his country (or Kingdom) who lives on foreign soil.
Imagine the uproar if an official American ambassador to France called a Frenchman a wimp and gave him a white flag. This guy would not be an ambassador for much longer. Who doesn't enjoy a good white flag joke, right? And remember "freedom fries"? Still, would you make those same jokes while in France? Unfortunately, some have done so. No wonder many French don't speak English around American tourists.
Ambassadors have the difficult role of trying to be diplomatic with people groups who lead different lives and have their own culture. Living on foreign soil doesn't mean abandoning your own culture, it means living the way you normally live in your home country, but gently. Some customs offend, so always be prepared to offer an explanation. Also, be prepared for more misunderstandings, and pray continually that the Holy Spirit will give you the words to diffuse an argument peacefully.
And that's just about all I have to say about Chick-fil-A.
Now, check out this song!
The big news this week has not been a fiasco. It has not been a triumph either. The world is fallen and words are used and abused every day; it just became more apparent this week. It's one shining example in a sea of humanity.
We are in a nation experiencing culture shock within its own borders. The reason? The Kingdom of God has no borders.
Christians will always be strangers in a strange land, wherever we live. I consider myself blessed to live in the U.S.A., but my first allegiance is not to my country of birth but to my kingdom of rebirth.
When U.S. citizens meet Kingdom citizens, culture shock is the norm, not the exception. We have different values, and vastly different definitions for the same words, thus we speak different languages. But we somehow still expect that we'll understand each other easily, with all the nuances and undertones that exist in the universe.
This is how words are so easily misunderstood: two very different groups of people can read the very same set of words and feel very differently about them. Did I say very enough for you?
One group reads a message of hate and intolerance, the other group reads a message of steadfast - yet tough - love, tempered with thankfulness.
Are either of these groups wrong in their interpretation?
No, because (again) they are citizens of different kingdoms. In one kingdom, those words are fighting words, filled with anger and venom directed at a specific group of people. In the other kingdom, those words are just as dispassionate as stating that the grass is going to die because we didn't water it enough, and being thankful that we have water.
Comments about dying grass can get ugly, too. If you tell your neighbor he doesn't water enough, he's gonna be offended. Maybe he just doesn't want to water his grass. Maybe he doesn't want to pay a higher bill. So where do we draw the line?
We can start by remembering that we're ambassadors, not politicians. A politician is talking to his own statesmen and has a general idea of what he needs to say to garner more votes. An ambassador is a representative of his country (or Kingdom) who lives on foreign soil.
Imagine the uproar if an official American ambassador to France called a Frenchman a wimp and gave him a white flag. This guy would not be an ambassador for much longer. Who doesn't enjoy a good white flag joke, right? And remember "freedom fries"? Still, would you make those same jokes while in France? Unfortunately, some have done so. No wonder many French don't speak English around American tourists.
(You see the similarity, here? I'm not just talking about Christian versus non-Christian culture. I'm also talking about American culture versus any other culture. Many Americans seem to assume their own culture should be the dominant one. And when two cultures both deeply steeped in their own versions of American culture meet, therein lies our problem. This is the stuff of loyalty, nay, fealty. This starts boycotts. This starts discussions of "our rights as Americans.")That's politician stuff. Let's think again for a minute about being ambassadors. What does the job entail?
Ambassadors have the difficult role of trying to be diplomatic with people groups who lead different lives and have their own culture. Living on foreign soil doesn't mean abandoning your own culture, it means living the way you normally live in your home country, but gently. Some customs offend, so always be prepared to offer an explanation. Also, be prepared for more misunderstandings, and pray continually that the Holy Spirit will give you the words to diffuse an argument peacefully.
And that's just about all I have to say about Chick-fil-A.
Now, check out this song!
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