An Explanation.......

I feel that I must clarify my "R" for "Rebel" statement a wee bit.

Remember that I said I am a rebel as far as a nontraditional sense of "style" goes. This is very different from being a rebel as far as a heart issue goes. Now, don't get me wrong. If you talk to me about wearing nylons and dresses to church, you'll see the rebellion there. But, that's another issue for another post. I'm working on it. Especially if Kev gets hired by a church that really really wants me to dress up a little. That's really not overly cool with me, but I'll work on it. I really well. But I digress......maybe it was all those years at N.B.B.I......

When I said that I will not have an issue if my boys want piercings or tats, I honestly won't IF they don't do it out of a rebellious SPIRIT or wrong motives. And you can tell the difference. I'm not talking about being cool with it if they want to do it when they're in junior high - or even in high school for that matter. I don't know....we'll see. What I am saying is that if once they're out on their own and they come home from college on a break with a tat, I'm not going to fly off the handle and preach to them about being backslidden. Holiness is not about a list of rules and regulations. It's a matter of the heart. When we start talking about offending the weaker brother or being a stumbling block to others, well frankly, that's why I haven't done a lot of things that I might like to do. We'll discuss all of this if and when the time comes.

"Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart," and I care a great deal more about what God thinks. By no means have I figured this whole thing out, but there is a delicate line to be walked between legalisim and offending our brother.

My parents were really awesome about this during our growing up years. We lived in a community and culture where going to movies and dances was a sin, and where even wearing makeup might spark a discussion. I clearly remember in my high school years being taken aside by a deacon in my church because I had pierced the top of my earlobe. Now, I know the dear soul loved me and he was just concerned for my "spiritual well-being," but mister man, at the time did that EVER turn me off. That little discussion did nothing for my spiritual well-being!

When senior prom rolled around, there were many of my Christian friends who were having major issues with their parents, because they were forbidden to go. My mom and dad, on the other hand, told me that if I wanted to go they would go dress shopping with me and it would be no problem with them. They trusted me. They knew me. And they knew the friends that I hung out with. This spoke VOLUMES to me! In a sense, they were putting their own necks out on the line with THEIR friends, because they were letting us go. Ultimately I chose not to because, for one thing, I can't dance to save my soul, and for another, my boyfriend of four years and I had just broken up. I wanted nothing to do with the whole scene. But, had I wanted to go, they would have let me! That trust that they had in me made me want to live even more trustworthy for them! Do you understand what I'm trying to say?

Clear as mud?! I just want to major on the majors and minor on the minors. My parents did a really great job at that. I want my boys to love Christ intimately and passionately. I want them to be completely sold out to Him. I want to be completely sold out to Him. And if this is the case, what's a little ink? I shudder to think of the things that I will really be dealing with them ten years from now. I'm sure that by then, tats and piercings will no longer be what's "cool" and it'll be something like shaving their heads or pulling out all of their teeth, or women trying to grow beards that will be the "in" thing.

Then, I'll really have to eat my words...........