Tiptoeing

I am reminded of a children's song which I remember singing as my Sunday School class traveled from destination to destination. It was a song designed to keep us quiet and respectful, and even the synchronized movements complimented the jingle. It went something like this:

"Tiptoe, tiptoe in God's House...

"Tiptoe, tiptoe in God's House..."

I remember wanting to be the best tiptoer in my class...to rise up on my toes and delicately move from point to point without disturbing anyone. It was as if our little bunch of kiddos were not to let anyone know we were there.

And so you'd think that I had abandoned this concept of tiptoeing. You would hope that as I grew older and stronger in my faith, I would have put an end to all that sneaking around. But I am still singing the song. I am still trying not to make a sound. I still don't want people to know I am there. That is really the truth.

Why do I do this? How can I truthfully be a Christian, husband, father, minister, leader, servant, friend, and tiptoe my faith around this world? Why don't I want to show Jesus' love to every single human I encounter?

I want to make noise. As I look at my Savior, he did just that. Jesus disrupted the routines, traditions, schedules, habits, practices, and lives of those He encountered. To the proud and organized, He was a nuisance. To the broken-hearted, He was what they had been looking for. And it wasn't like He didn't enjoy the essentials of life: people, family, food, faith. He just bypassed the additives of life. Jesus cared so much about God and His love for people that He refused to care about what people thought of Him. This is so difficult for me and a great reason I continue to tiptoe.

I am not sure all the elements involved in the process of relieving the tiptoeing in my life. Maybe it involves courage. Maybe it involves intentionality. Maybe it involves a secure and humble spirit. All I know is I'm done prancing around like a child. I don't want to wake up one day an old man and weep for how I could have lived. I desire the noise and action of a Jesus faith. And not just in "God's House," but His entire creation. Maybe the new words of my song would go something like this:

"Make noise, make noise in this place...

"Make noise, make noise for His sake..."