To the Left, to the Left! No--to the Right!

My aunt-in-law's father, affectionately adopted as a bonus grandfather, was a remarkable raconteur, so much so that his stories would have you rolling on the floor laughing. One such story was about a family member and her first flight experience. When the plane went through some nail-biting turbulence, he prompted her, "¡Alivianate, Rebekah!" (In English, that would be, "Make yourself lighter, Rebekah!") The poor dear, not knowing any better, lifted her body off the seat by pushing herself up on the armrests. Needless to say, that did not help the turbulence, but it did provide fodder for many a laugh at poor Rebekah's expense for many years to come.

Unfortunately, we in the household of Christ often have a lot in common with Rebekah. While walking on the straight and narrow, turbulence sends us flapping to one side or the other. We over-correct, accomplishing nothing more than an embarrassing fall/failure. What to do? What to do? First and foremost: we need to learn to refrain from over correcting. How? Through moderation. Let's see how that translates into two pretty important areas of our walk with Christ.

First, to honor God and refrain from falling into the clutches of creditors, we spend within our means (Romans 13:8). Second, to honor God with our bodies, we present them as a living sacrifice, covering ourselves with modest clothing (I Timothy 2:9). What does nonsensical over correcting in these areas look like?

Hmm . . . One day, Brother Antonio, of Cuernavaca fame (a first-rate teaser bar none), came to our apartment at a rather early hour, catching us at breakfast. Having already breakfasted, he sat and kept us company as we finished up.

It so happened that when I went to work with Auntie Trinie in the ministry, she gave me some tips for being a good steward of what God gave us. One was to make sure the liter carton of milk was completely empty before I threw it away.

"Neenee," she told me, "there is always a drop or two hiding in the corner, so when you think the container is empty, you tap it a little like this so those hidden drops come out the spout." Brother Antonio sat down just in time to see me officiate at this "make sure no drop is left in the milk carton" ceremony.

He raised his eyebrows and in a serious voice commended me. "Now, that's right smart," he said, "making sure to get the last drops out of the carton! You make a very good missionary." I could feel a flush of embarrassment color my cheeks. Was I practicing godly frugality or was I being too parsimonious, inferring through my actions that the Lord couldn't provide enough? Brother Antonio's tone lent itself to such thoughts. Needless to say, I have never again tapped the milk carton to ensure getting the very last drop out! I choose to believe that God will provide for the morrow, last drop or no last drop!

Then there was Auntie and her pink dress. Because her personal monies came through the ministry, Auntie felt constrained to spend little on herself, rarely splurging on a new dress. Before I went to help her as a secretary and companion, sometimes the manager of the print shop would "lend" Auntie her oldest boy when she needed someone to travel with her to a town in which she had been asked to minister.

One day, as they were driving through the beautiful countryside, Edgar turned to Auntie and asked, "Why do you always wear that old pink dress? It's so faded." From the mouth of babes! Auntie had gone too far in being frugal with her money--it took a child's innocent observation to shake her into the realization that her threadbare clothes were a sad indictment against her Lord: anyone observing her frayed clothes would surmise that He was unable to keep His daughter and servant in serviceable clothes! (There are exceptions to such guidelines--such as times of war and great need like the Great Depression--but this was not one of those times!) When Auntie got home from that outing, she took off that tattered dress and burned it! No more shaming Jesus' ability to provide by wearing shabby clothes!

Clothes come with the How Much Should I Spend on Them issue--and that of modesty. What is God's definition? Since mom's church forays (she favored a middle-of-the-road denomination) were sporadic, most of my formative years were colored by the holiness precepts set forth in the church Grandma took me to when she had her druthers. Although I have come to embrace more lenient interpretations of modesty, things being what they are in this day and age, when I see someone in a mall or other place of business with clothes that scream "I AM FROM A HOLINESS DENOMINATION" I have to keep myself from throwing my arms around them, and squishing them to death with a heartfelt, "I am so proud of you for not showing off all your assets in public! God bless you!"

However . . . sometimes "being modest" is taken to an extreme that undermines its purpose. I won't say where, but at one time my family and I lived next door to a holiness family. The daughters wore floor length dresses and sleeves that covered their arms. Um . . . I don't want to be crude, but those "modest" dresses were extremely form fitting. While the clothes did cover "parts," they were so excessively tight that they left nothing to the imagination. So much so that the modesty goal became moot.

So how exactly do we learn to act with moderation in this area? The chorus of a seventies Jesus ballad said, "Read the Bible, the words inside are true and reliable." It hit the nail on the head! When in doubt--"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20). That's what I had to learn to do.

Sad to say, once I allowed myself to get crosswise with God. The problem arose from my holiness background and my friend's lack thereof. This dear friend had been approached for counseling by another young person in the church. In a word, I was jealous.

"How can you use her, Lord, when she wears (gasp!!!!) earrings! They should come to me for counseling and prayer, I don't wear earrings! (Note: as a rule, holiness denominations eschew the wearing of jewelry.) How can You have let this happen? I am not getting up from this place" (I was kneeling by Auntie's bed with my Bible) "until You explain this to me!"

I began to turn the pages of the Bible, skimming this passage, then that one, until one jumped off the pages at me: "I decked thee with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears . . ." (Ezequiel 16: 11-12). My jaw dropped. Would God say He placed jewels (even EARRINGS!!!!) on His chosen people, even if figuratively, if using those jewels was sinful? I had been taught that jewelry was a big no-no, yet here was God, placing jewelry on His beloved!

Talk about upsetting the apple cart! I apologized to God and did an about face. My friend had every right to be used by God. Earrings are A-okay! And just like that, God moved the "jewelry" pendulum to its place of moderation--while obtaining jewelry should not be an all-consuming passion, neither is it an absolute no-no.

Moderation! If there is an area in which you don't know if you should go left or right--ask! He is a faithful God. He will not leave you flapping haplessly! He will show you the way to go! He will not let you fall off the wire!

"Let your moderation be known unto all men . . . and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:5-7)