The other day I was talking to a friend on the phone and she noted that I said something with a fairly strong southern accent. We laughed, I defended my Yankee accent…and then eventually admitted that I do occasionally sound a tad bit southern. How can I not?! I’m surrounded by people with an accent different than mine all day long, every day.
It doesn’t stop there; people in the south just plain old behave differently. The pace of living is
m u c h s l o w e r. Once people see a yellow light, they simply stop. Is I-75 at stand still traffic? Concerned there’s a massive pile up? Rest assured, 87% of the time it’s just the fact that EVERYONE wants to see who got pulled over by the police. Iced tea doesn’t exist in the south. Before my southern friends protest this, let me just tell you that what YOU call iced tea…I call maple syrup!
My newly acquired southern roots are definitely starting to grow on me though. I enjoy a little Bojangles once in a while and whole heartedly believe that you should be able to just randomly tell someone you’re praying for them (if you mean it). I can certainly appreciate being able to make eye contact and smile at people while browsing around Wal-Mart. And while I don't see the entertainment in watching Nascar on tv…I definitely enjoy driving like I'm part of Nascar. These are all southern norms.
The more I ponder on my continually developing southern accent, I more solidly believe that it’s next to impossible not to be impacted by who we’re around, what we're hearing and what we're seeing.
I’m conflicted as I turn this to spiritual implications. While the grace driven part of me declares that I have to spend time with non-Christians in order to make a difference, the straight and narrow part of me reminds my heart that I am too often prone to wander. I believe there’s a movement plowing its way into this new generation of Christians. We live boldly in scandalous grace and defiantly tell the hymn huggers that God is love. And while God is indeed love…doesn’t love set boundaries?
If true love is patient, kind, doesn’t boast, isn’t jealous/proud/rude, doesn’t demand its own way, isn’t irritable, doesn’t keep a list of being wronged, doesn’t rejoice over injustice but instead rejoices when the truth prevails…if it truly never gives up, keeps the faith, is always filled with hope and can endure every circumstance then maybe we’re not embracing the world with love. Maybe, just maybe we’re embracing the world with indifference.
If love propels us to act and complacency compels us to stay…are we loving those around us or growing complacent with their behavior.
I don’t suggest half drowning people in holy water, causing concussions from Bible beatings nor do I advocate rug burns from dragging people into church. I don't believe that we should expel these people from our lives. I do, however, believe that if you lived your love for Christ a little more loudly, a little more actively – maybe people around you would start picking up on your accent. Maybe, they’d see that it wasn’t just in the way you talked, but the way you lived. And maybe, just maybe they’d want to live that way, too…
Philippians 4:6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise
