My father always believed if you would apply enough force, you could get anything to fit – even a square peg into a round hole. But the older I get, the more I realize that forcing something into the space of something else does not mean it fits.
Today, I feel like that square peg being shoved into a round hole, and I just don’t fit. I received my invitation to participate in Governor Huckabee’s August 1st Chic-Fil-A Appreciation Day, but I just can’t force myself to press that all important “Join” button. I feel the force to do so; after all, I am a Baptist preacher’s wife for heaven’s sake! There’s something in my spirit, though, that feels like a warning – a voice prodding me to flee from this thing that feels more like political spectacle than spiritual affirmation.
My first clue came with Governor Huckabee’s opening and closing words of the invitation. He begins with “I have been incensed” and closes with “[t]here’s no need for anyone to be angry…” This sounds a bit incongruent to me. I’m not saying that anger is always wrong, but I am saying if you’re angry please, please, please, do not cloak your anger with pretense of kindness. Disingenuous behavior tends to do more harm than simply displaying honest sentiment.
Besides struggling with the mixed message of the governor’s invitation, try as I might – after all, everyone wants to fit in – I simply cannot see Jesus participating in anything of this sort. Can people find biblical grounds for their ire with this powder keg issue? You bet. But the religious leaders who threw the adulterous woman at Jesus’ feet also had biblical grounds to do so, and it did not make them any less wrong in their behavior. Christ really took the great commandment seriously – Love God, love people – and lived it out in every situation.
As for me, I believe this Appreciation Day will end up being a venue for displaying anything but the love of Christ. The political fervor is too hot for it to be anything else. Therefore, I will not be pressing that “Join” button after all. Sorry, but I just don’t fit.
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