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| Pull your pants up and hope they miss! |
Our first defensive card. Can't hit what you can't find, i reckon is the idea.
Gonna take a moment to theophilosophize here; y'all are used to me doing that by now and feel free to stop reading if you don't care. i'm not offended, i just compulsively write about what i think about. And what i think about, even when i'm drawing Willy get punched in the nuts, is God.
Here's the verse that usually came to mind when i was drawing this stuff...
"Therefore become imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, just as also Christ loved us, and gave himself for us an offering and sacrifice to God for a fragrant smell. But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness, or greediness, must not even be named among you (as is fitting for saints), and obscenity, and foolish talk, or coarse jesting (which are not proper), but rather thanksgiving. For this you know for certain, that every sexually immoral person, or unclean person, or greedy person (who is an idolater), does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.
Therefore do not be sharers with them, for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live like children of light (for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is well-pleasing to the Lord. And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even expose them. For it is shameful even to speak about the things being done by them in secret, but all things exposed by the light are made visible, for everything made visible is light." Eph 5
It's all about not watering down your witness or your soul with things that are harmful AND with things that are just not helpful. Holiness may not be achievable this side of the rolled back sky but it's still the gold standard of gratitude for what Christ has done and it's a heck of a lot more pleasing to a father when his children are living in thankfulness of his goodness to them than when they are just off willy-nilly (see what i did there) doing whatever fool thing they think will make them happy at the moment.
i grew up in a Pennsy-germanic family that knew religion as a command. This is what God has done for you (gospel, they did still have the gospel) so this is what you Must do and Must NOT do, or else. Heavy on the must not. i'm not sure how they felt about Jesus turning water to wine that he knew people were going to get drunk on. i'm fairly certain they would have been more comfortable with the Pharisees outside asking how Jesus ate and drank with sinners, whores and treacherous greedy tax collectors than inside breaking bread and rubbing shoulders with them all.
That's not a rebuke at all, my heart waffles between pharisaical self-righteousness and wanting to be doing whatever the "sinners" are doing cuz it looks like fun. Not at Jesus' feet hanging on his every word like Martha's sister Mary or the paraplegic who was dragged there by his friends. This game and its designs really shined a light on this internal tug-o-war of mine. i'll probably have more thoughts on that as i go, sorry.
