ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
October 31, 2026
I don’t know about you, but there was a time in my life when Halloween might have been as exciting as Christmas and my birthday. Not only were there fun decorations, but I got to wear a costume. In those days, we spent time at Kmart and Ben Franklin where we found the boxed costumes with the cheap plastic masks held on with the elastic band stapled inside the mask. It was flimsy, but I still thought it was cool. We usually had a day at school when we got to wear them, and I remember being disappointed when five or six of my classmates had the same Batman costume, and my elastic band broke before lunch.
What is it about costumes? What is it that we like about putting on a mask or becoming someone we are not? Or in some situations, it might help us lean into the person we’ve always wanted to be, but haven’t found the courage except at Halloween? In a culture that gives plenty of lip service to the notion of being who you are, we really discourage uniqueness. We often feel uncomfortable around those who step outside the norm, at least in public. Yet I think of Dolly Parton who often said, “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.” She clearly liked the shock value of the words. However, it was a purposeful persona. Growing up, there was a guy who dressed up like a clown and would hang out on the streets of Lincoln, NE. When asked, he explained how the outfit and makeup didn’t hide anything, but provided him permission for his true personality to come out.
Whether we admit it or not, our culture has many unspoken expectations of what is appropriate and what is not, yet many of those expectations are rooted in nothing more than a society that likes uniformity or simple, well-defined categories. I remember when I came home from college with an earring. My mother lost it and nearly cut me off from my college funds. Yet a few years later, when I had five earrings, she only rolled her eyes. Sometimes it is a phase. Other times, it is a bit of rebellion that is simply asking the question, “Why?” And for some people, it is an opportunity to claim who they believe God made them to be, even though it doesn’t fit the conventional thinking of the day. The cultural pushback is often rooted in other people’s insecurities, nothing more. People believe peace and contentment are found when the world around them fits in neatly created categories designed by their own fragile worldview. I might be wrong, but the Jesus I know lived a life that didn’t restrict people from expressing themselves. Instead, with a radiating grace, he invited people to step from the shadows of religious and societal mores to claim their God-given personhood. Just because something isn’t what you would choose, why do we feel so threatened? A lot of the so called norms are rather silly, though sadly, the disapproval can turn to hatefulness or even violence… sometimes, even in the name of Jesus.
When something makes me uncomfortable, help me to pause and reflect. I sometimes need your help, Gracious God, as I seek to gain perspective. So much of what I define as unusual or strange might have less to do with the object of my discomfort and more to do with me. Help me to love people, not for how I think they should be, but for who they are. Amen.
