Psychadelic tie. Check .
Quality paints. Check.
Book to read when wedding service get ho-hum. Check. (But then we had to sit in the front row because Dana was showing off the pipes....so no book.)
Seriously, Dana and I had the pleasure of attending the holy matrimonious service of Maryem Raissian (race-ee-on) and Nathan Smith. Dana and Maryem were super tight in college so my baby put the pipes on display during the ceremony. It was not only not pitchy at all (we got a hot one tonight, Randy-dog!), but Dana was by far the most beautiful lady in the room. It was cool to reconnect with some old friends and to celebrate Maryem and Nathan.
I discovered that folks of Iranian descent, namely Maryem's family, know how to have a ridiculously good time. I'm not sure if it was the open bar or their free-spiritedness, but whenever the DJ (who totally deserves his own entry because we was the DEFINITION of wedding DJ) would put away the American tunes and spin the synth-pop Iranian beats, the dance floor would FLOOD with people. Simple equation: Iranian synth-pop = dance floor full. American tunes = dance floor empty.
This is not to say that the American Christians that attended didn't get off their American butts and make the magic happen on the dance floor - but it does beg the question, do Christians know how to celebrate? I don't want to paint with too broad a stroke, because the frivolity of the Iranian folks may have been due, at least in part, to having all of the family there. But there was a marked difference between the celebration of the Iranians and the Americans. The difference? The Iranians seemed to be loving every minute of the celebration, soaking in the joy and frivolity of the event with a passion. Everyone else, namely the Christians, seemed to be going through the motions. Again, not to paint with too broad a stroke or indict anyone for their behavior, but it seemed that the Christians (VERY GENERALLY SPEAKING) were more concerned with maintaining their witness rather than celebrating and blessing the covenant made between these two people.
When does "maintaining your witness" serve to tear down community rather than build it up?
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2 comments:
Jason,
Wow great post and I am sorry I missed the wedding. I probably would have had a great time. You pose an interesting question. The thin line would be how do we be relevant to the culture but not become the culture. I mean look at Jesus, would he be in the church or in the bars. How come we as Christians can't go to a bar and have a good time and set a good example for Christ. The answer is we would be rejected by Christians who understand little about the person they claim to follow. That doesn't mean that we should get drunk and party hardy as old college people would say but we could go to the bar and instead of being a stiff show Non-believers that we can and do have a good time! Keep up the posting and tell Dana I said Hey!
Um, I like to dance.
Sounds like a VERY interesting dynamic at this wedding!
Man, I don't even know what to say here. So many things are running through my mind about the "Christian Witness" and how very different that looks for so many people.
So... more later, I guess.
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