Update #104

“Abstain from every appearance of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22

Morning mist over Saratoga - view from my dining room

Several years ago I was at a large pot-luck BSF dinner party and unashamedly recruiting for a swing dance I was attending later that evening. One of the men in attendance said he would like to go, with one caveat; he had to stop by a birthday party as some point during the evening.

I LOVE to dance; especially the Swing, Lindy, Charleston, Balboa genre. The music is happy, the beat is fun, and the people are usually relaxed and friendly. The venue we visited that night was family oriented so there is little to no alcohol consumption. For a single woman that’s nice; you don’t have to worry about hand slippage or “accidental” grazing of your body parts “due” to intoxication.

We stayed about 2 hours and then headed to his friends birthday party. I was mistaken in thinking that it was going to be at a house. When we pulled up in front of a swanky downtown Seattle bar I was shocked.

“The party is here?” I asked incredulously as look of absolute alarm crossed my face.

Oblivious to my discomfort he replied, “Yep! Let’s go dance!” and shot out of the truck.

Big, black clothed bouncers framed the door. I was patted down and searched for containers carrying alcohol and let in. I must have had a questioning look on my face because the bouncer pointed and bellowed “down the hall babe.” I faced a long, darkly painted passageway. The music’s beat vibrated the wood under my feet; the tunnel grazed my elbows on either side. At one point I stopped because I couldn’t believe the lyrics I was hearing “come on in, take your clothes off, let’s get started”. I turned and bumped into the guy I was with.

“Did you hear the lyrics?” I asked

“Can’t hear anything – too loud” he shouted and nudged me forward.

I entered a packed room. I felt like something out of a 1950’s Better Homes & Gardens ad, whereas the scene in front of me was a layout from a modern day men’s magazine; stylishly attired men and scantily clad women. I had way too many clothes on to fit in to this scene.

“Want something to drink? I’ll be back.” He disappeared to the bar.

I felt like an absolute alien. I didn’t know what to do. There was no place to put my coat, check my purse, put things down, so I went and stood along the back wall.

“I’ll find the birthday girl and introduce ya” he shouted, handed me his coat and disappeared onto the dance floor. He came back with an absolutely stunning brunette who was celebrating her 26th birthday. She was slightly intoxicated and spilled some of her drink down my skirt. Mix that with the vodka spilled previously on my shoe and I was a sticky mess!

I tried to dance. I just couldn’t get into it; all I could hear were the lyrics encouraging me to do things I was shocked to consider. Eventually I became a wallflower and sipped my water.

Sweaty, smelling of aftershave, cologne, and alcohol he jubilantly joined me. “Isn’t it great that we as Christians can go out to a place like this and enjoy it?” he asked.

“Which ones are the Christians?” I answered, sweeping my arm across the room. “I can’t tell.”

A discussion ensued that I will never forget. It ended with him dropping me at my car and saying “we will just have to agree to disagree.”

What were we differing over? What was the discussion around? What qualifies as “appearance of evil.”

When we commit our lives to Jesus we become sanctified. A big word meaning we are set apart, holy; Webster’s defines it as “To cleanse from corruption; to purify from sin; to make holy be detaching the affections from the world and its defilements, and exalting them to a supreme love to God.”

When we are baptized, it symbolizes our old self, old ways, old habits drowning, dying, being taken away so when we emerge from the water we are clean, pure and undefiled.

The problem is, we remember the sweet fruits of our past life; its enticements, its comforts, its pleasures and unless we draw a hard line and bring in staunch accountability we migrate back. Back to what comforted us before; back to what previously brought us pleasure, fun and excitement.

This is the trap. If you are back where you were, how can you be a light where you are? If your life hasn’t drastically changed and you are still haunting the same places, doing the same things how are you set apart for holy purposes?

Jesus was a radical. He turned society on its ear with his lifestyle and we are called to do the same. We are called to eradicate every trace of evil from our lives and live holy and pure unto him.

We are called to live above reproach as painful and inconvenient as that may be. When we intentionally live above reproach we are still judged, but it is harder for the appearance of evil to creep in. And believe you me, evil is looking for every opportunity to bring you down, mar you and your reputation, and give people fodder to point at and talk about.

Where are you on the continuum? Are you here, there, or straddling the fence hopping from one side to the other? What areas of your life may cause others to not have the proper view of Jesus? What life elements aren’t fully set apart, holy, belonging to God?

Where do you fudge in the face of convenience or comfort?

Updates:
Living – My housewarming was a success and I am “settled”. Thanks again to all who helped in the moving process…hopefully I won’t have to do it again for awhile!
Condo – Still for sale. My realtor is holding an open house this Sunday, there have been several showings during the past week and I am praying, hoping, pleading, with God that he will sell it soon.
Work – The retreat was a huge success. God showed up, people were transformed and I think God was glorified. Our first team leaves next week followed by our second the end of October. The last one leaves the first of November – all are gone for about 20 days.
Travel – I am heading to India! I submitted all the paperwork for my visa yesterday and am awaiting approval before I purchase my air ticket. I will hopefully fly out on the 20th of October and return on the 8th of November (Mom, I’ll actually be in the country for your birthday this year!).

Requests:
Condo – Pray that it sells! Each month God has been bringing in the money to pay the mortgage, dues, and special assessment fees (Praise God) but not having the payments loom over my horizon would be even better! Pray that it sells, sells, sells!
Work – We need staff. Our ministry is expanding and we don’t have the people to man all the posts that are coming available! If you are a rēp alumni and are seeking things to do – CONTACT US!

Websites - If you would like to RSS my update vs. getting them by email visit my blog site http://www.denaandrews.blogstpot.com/. To find out more about rēp visit http://www.repurposing.biz/ for information.