My dear cousin in Canada sent me a link to this Associated Press article yesterday. I’m not sure if this is legal, but since it is short, I am reprinting it below. Feel free to go to msnbc.com and read it for yourself too.Police: Dad stabs son for wearing hat in church
Son stabbed in buttock after dispute; arrest pending for 58-year-old father
BALTIMORE - A 58-year-old man stabbed his teenage son after he refused to take off his hat at church earlier in the day, police said.
The father and his 19-year-old son got into an argument on Sunday afternoon, police said. That's when police said the father went to a car, got a knife and stabbed his son in the left buttock and fled.
The son was taken to University of Maryland Medical Center for treatment. The father's name was withheld pending his arrest.
I used to talk about the 90 Day Probationary Period that churches seem to have. We love when “sinners” come through the door, but said sinners have about 90 days in the shadow of our steeples to shape up. When they refuse (i.e. ask hard questions, have a differing perspective or struggle with problems) the phrases used go something like, “He just doesn’t want to help himself, so we can’t help him” or “She is becoming a distraction to the rest of the church family” or “Is the church supposed to tolerate sin? I don’t think so!”
Here’s the thing. I wonder if we sometimes classify behaviors or questions that make us uncomfortable as “sin.” Admit it - we have a serious subculture going on in the church – complete with our own language, tribal gear and hierarchy (and boy can we define 'reverence'). We expect people to fit in to our schema, and the sooner the better. Please use our phrases, please be pleasant in the narthex and don’t ever, ever wear a hat in the sanctuary. God would not be pleased.
One Sunday a couple of years ago, the youth band at our church got up to lead worship in their bare feet. Afterward, I almost lost my mind as people logged their criticisms instead of rejoicing at the number of young people serving and participating.
Traditions and preferences are important, but not when they thwart the true mission of the church. And certainly not if they cause you to stab your offspring.
1 comment:
Wow, this article actually makes me thankful for a similar situation that I found myself in before, though not with my father. I was practicing with our worship team after Wednesday night service in the sanctuary, after I had been in the youth service. It was just before July 4th and I was leaving after practice to go camping with a few families in the church. So I was dressed as one might be to go camping: shorts, sandals and a hat. In the middle of rehearsal one of our members, who by the way was a drill Sargent in the Army, came up and began to verbally berate me in front of everyone. He quoted some obscure passage and tried to beat me down with the Bible. I respectfully disagreed with him and after realizing that our "conversation" was going nowhere, I took my hat off and put it in my pocket. The said drill Sargent then began to tell me that I wasn't a man of my principles because I had backed down. I then looked him in the eye and told him that it was more important for me and my ministry to him (I was the minister of music at said church) to not have this little issue between us. He huffed and turned away and I wet my pants a little.
The sad thing is that this person didn't have much to do with me until about 6 months before I moved to PA. He came back from a tour in Iraq and changed somehow. Thankfully we were able to reconcile before I moved.
But Wendy you are right. Our unwritten "club" rules don't always help us to fulfill our mission. May God open our eyes to the futility of our self-proclaimed "righteousness."
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