Gigi's Blog

What will people think?

visioncgbc | June 12, 2008 13:00

I’m a bit nervous.  Next week while we are at M-Fuge, my mother will have to be completely responsible for Chloe for her recital.  This is NOT a simple task for so many reasons, one of the many being hair and make-up.  I was a girly-girl and wanted to wear make-up when I was about two years old.  Chloe isn’t real into wearing bright red lipstick.  There’s a bit of a generation gap that will be going on next week.  My mom remembers “putting my face on” for recitals 31 years ago.  Bright red lipstick, made up almost like a clown.  Well, I’ve seen different levels of make-up going on at recitals in the 2000s.  Chloe prefers a somewhat natural make-up look.  So, I’m not sure what will happen next week.  Let’s just both pray that it will go good, k? 

But Chloe has always had strong opinion about her clothes and hair-even if (in my opinion) they were wrong.  I try to live by the motto “pick your battles” when it comes to Chloe, but quite often I find myself insisting that she simply must not wear her hair “that way.”  The truth is when she looks what I consider unacceptable is that it will reflect on me as a parent.  So I will risk literally crushing her spirit as long as my reputation as “the acceptable mommy” is protected.  How many times have said or heard “What will people think?”  The truth is we should care what God thinks, but I have allowed “What will people think?” to override what God thinks many times.

Are you living your spiritual life this way?  Let me tell you what I mean.  If you have a friend, who is a Christian, but they are involved in something considered wrong by a part, or maybe even most of today’s church, what do you do?  My tendency is to distance myself from a person if I feel that someone in my church might mistakenly think I approve of their behavior.  Heaven forbid!!! 

Let me share with you what the Bible a.k.a. The Word of the Living God says about all this:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2014-15;&version=65; 

If I, if you, lived our lives according to this scripture, we would see our individual lives as well as our church explode in the grace of Christ.  But, this scripture was written 2000 or so years ago, so this is not a new concept.  I suppose that there will continue to be those who decide that the Kingdom of God is mostly about rules of regulations.  What a shame.  But, I’m refreshed and encouraged as I realize it’s not only ok with God for me to continue to be friends with my fellow brother who may have different beliefs in acceptable and unacceptable, it’s an instruction.  How freeing!  The Christian life isn’t about what you can’t do because you’re a Believer; it’s about what you can do- because you’re a Believer. 

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