Thursday, June 10, 2010

FBI Warning


When I was a little girl my older brother told me the FBI warning that came at the beginning of movies said that the FBI would come and take me away if I talked during the movie. I of course believed him, as he always seemed to know everything important. When I was in Kindergarten I went to a birthday party for a friend in my class. During the party we dressed up like princesses and watched Cinderella. The other girls at the party were talking and giggling like little girls do while I was sshhhing everyone. The more they talked the more afraid and upset I became as I just new men in black suits were about to bust down the doors of the house to come take them away and I would of course be guilty by association. I began to cry and the mother of my friend came over to find out what was wrong. She somehow managed not to laugh in my face and gently explained to me that the warning was about something else entirely and that there were no laws that would cart little girls off to jail for laughing and talking during a movie. I was thrilled! I don't think I stopped talking during that movie simply because I realized that if I did there would be no consequence.

Isn't that how sin can be for us. Sometimes we think that there may be terrible consequences to a given action, but then we find out that it's really not that bad. I still remember the first time I said a swear word. I'm pretty sure I was expecting lightening to strike or the ground to swallow me up or something. But nothing happened. Then it seemed like no big thing to let a bad word slip. Sometimes in high school I even said them to be cool. I mean why not, the ground didn't swallow me up when I said them.

I have also heard similar tales from the teenagers I work with about sex, drinking and drugs. They thought they would feel terrible afterward, guilty, angry at themselves, sick to their stomachs. Some do, but some don't. Some even like it. Can you believe that? haha.

The truth is you aren't supposed to talk in movies. If you do people are usually annoyed because it's rude or you might miss a critical line of dialogue and be confused about the plot. While the FBI might not come get me, everyone around me--including me-- will enjoy the movie a lot more if I was just quiet.

Sin is sneaky sometimes. But let's all do ourselves a favor and be truthful about the consequences and reasoning we present to other people. God gave us rules because he loves us, and he knows what's best for us. If there's anything that I don't have to build up a facade to make it seem stronger it's God love. We feel all this anxiety when we try to teach others the good news about Jesus. But sometimes we just have to let the gospel speak for itself, when you do AMAZING things will happen. I just know it.

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