A scene not very long ago gave me much to think about. I was at a charismatic worship service and the music was typical of young bands. Banners and flags were flapping. Young adults were passionately praising God and dancing, some with a lot of gusto. One young man stood out among the dozens of free-style dancers. He sported a multi-colored-tie-dyed t-shirt and Bermuda shorts. No big deal. But—his head bobbled wildly, flinging clumps of long blonde dreadlocks intertwined with dozens of multi-colored ribbons while he twirled and jumped. His bare feet stomped and danced frenziedly to heavy bass and fast drumbeats.
It was impossible to not notice him, and at the same time, difficult to keep focused on the reason for myself being there. I found myself having to work at redirecting my focus. I asked myself, “Now, where do you put that?” Is he out of order? Should I just write him off as a wacky guy looking for attention? Is he a child of God, passionately worshiping, but with some possible misguided ideas? Is he just “being himself,” albeit way outside the norms of public encounter?
This young man was not harming anyone. He did not ask for any special consideration or make demands of anyone, and I don’t believe his display was sinful. He was certainly passionate about his worship. The overall culture of that particular church community was very informal and it did not seem to bother anyone in the audience. He was pretty much ignored. It did make me wonder how this scene would play out in a different setting when I saw him dance once more in a more traditional church setting. He was a visitor so I think most people just wrote him off as a peculiar young guy. More recently in Los Angeles I saw a few young people with similar streaming bright ribbons in their hair, so I’m thinking it might be an upcoming fad.
Such peculiarity isn’t always about sin, however, his display gave me pause to think about our responsibility to others. His looks and behavior drew a lot of attention even in that first casual atmosphere. There seemed to be no purpose to the overall appearance other than expressing personal flare. Beyond expecting people to simply tolerate the unusual, bordering on the bizarre, I do think people have some responsibility to honor the house where we worship and even more so, where we visit. It’s not like this young man had never been in a church before or didn’t have some idea about appropriateness, which is certainly excusable. For me, it was a lesson in Romans 14:13 for me. “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”
What is the norm of the house’s culture? Should we violate it in favor of our preferred “style”? My personal preference is honor over self-indulgence. I don’t have to wear a beach outfit in a church where business-casual is the norm, and if beach is the norm, I probably would not wear something formal. My behavior and worship should not violate the culture of the church out of respect for the house. But that’s my take on it.
Now for a caveat even for my more conservative outlook—the Holy Spirit has complete freedom to prompt anything He desires. Period. No argument, except we need to be sure it is the Holy Spirit and not wild imagination. And so, when situations like this one occur, I ask myself some pretty basic questions. Is this decent and in order (“Let all things be done decently and in order” 1 Cor. 4:40)? Does it violate general moral and ethical codes? Is this something that brings attention, honor, and glory to God? When the “look” or behavior becomes more radical or important than the purpose for the gathering, then it seems some gentle and loving correction may be called for, not to discourage passion, but rather to encourage one another to maturity so that passion is channeled to be infectious rather than written off as weird. Let all things be done not only decently and in order, but also with love and faith.
Copyright 2015 by Eva Benevento. All rights reserved.