Last weekend I provided a blog posting called "Essentials of Graceland".
The posting had a great response, and some of you have asked for the promised flip-side to the essentials. Here is what I've created thus far, as "Non-Essentials of Graceland". These are areas where we can agree to disagree, due to different strokes for different folks in the community of Graceland.
It's a growing project, and you can't read one without the other. So do yourself a favor, read "Essentials of Graceland" first, then come back and read "Non-Essentials of Graceland" afterward.
Here are some "popular topical non-essentials" for me...we can add more later.
Six Day Creation. I'm not a literalist, 'a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day' to Abba Creator. Whether you believe it was 'six literal days', or 'six thousands years'. This much is true, God created me, you, and this wonderful place where we enjoy love, meaningful relationships and joyous laughter. In the beginning, God created it all, how you get to this point is a non-essential.
Drinking Alcohol. I'm not a legalist when it comes to alcoholic beverages, we have "fundamentalized" this issue. Be authentic to the marketplace; Noah was 'really' drunk, it wasn't all 'Welch's Grape Juice', and Jesus turned water into 'real' wine folks; this is why they responded with 'saving the best for last'. It was fermented; alcohol is a non-essential.
"He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine which makes man's heart glad." (Psalm 104)
It's not a sin to enjoy a glass of wine, or beer. It is 'sin impacting' (damaging to the relationship between you and God) to self medicate into a dangerous state of addiction and drunkenness. I also agree, we should also be a conscious of a brother's (sister's) conviction and weakness as it relates to this issue.
Attire and Clothing. Externals are not important to me. A friend told me once, "You can tell if you're in community with a sincere group of Jesus Followers when the group isn't pretty and perfect." I love the "come as you are" attitude of Jesus, and the relevant message this communicates to the materialistic world we live in. I'm a casual Christian in Graceland, attire is a non-essential.
Body Art. 'Tats', studs, piercings and colors do not offend me. Today's post-modern culture expresses itself in many creative, artistic means. The same way missionaries are trained to learn and to relate to the different cultural customs and ethics of many countries, we must be of the same missional mind set for today's cultural people.
Bring on the art, express yourself, body art is a non-essential.
Jesus Return. I'm not pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation or post tribulation. I'm not amillenial or even post-millennial. If you don't know what these terms mean, then good for you. Know this, Jesus is returning to earth and we should be excited about 'that day', but our salvation wasn't for 'that day', it is for 'this day', and the next.
Go and love others, sharing with them the love of Jesus in sincere relationships. How he returns is a non-essential.
Movies, Music and Television. I'm a very relevant person and this reality gets me into much trouble. I believe where you find "truth" you find God. I find truth in all movies, all music and much of television. A person's filter is his, or her, personal convictions - as they relate to themselves and Jesus.
We should not judge others for what they watch and enjoy as artistic entertainment. Actually I encourage others to engage and become more relevant in today's cultural venues. Get out and see what these 'spiritual' icons are saying, what you watch is a non-essential.
