Greetings and Salutations.....(I really get tired of saying "Howdy gang!"). Welcome to the place of innovation, intonation, enunciation, and illumination. It's Tuesday's Musical Notes, coming at you from email, blog, facebook, twitter, and even instagram!
Welcome to the next
change in the seasons as, at least here in Arkansas, cooler temperatures
have set in and wait to see how God is going to paint the canvas of
foliage that is fall in these here parts. Last week we celebrated the
life of Dean Jones, one of The Notes' favorite actors and Herbie's best
friend. In doing so, we did not take a look into yesteryear as our habit has been on the first Tuesday of each month. We intend to correct that today as we take our look to the archives of Tuesday's Musical Notes, The Email ...from April of 2011, where we went down to Motown and visited the
still reigning Queen of Soul....ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Aretha Franklin:
As the #5 song on Rolling Stones "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", "Respect",
is one of R&B's most well known songs and a
recurring performance enhancer for many an American Idol hopeful. What
you may not know is that Aretha Franklin didn't write or sing the song
originally. The original recording was by R&B great Otis Redding. That's right,
"Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" and "Respect" came from the same writer.
The original had quite the role reversal from Aretha's later hit, but
still lyrically speaks to an issue that plagues our society and our
relationships with other believers...a seeming lack of basic respect for one another
"They'll let
anybody in here!" You've probably heard this statement as a frivolous,
but harmless greeting many times. I heard it recently and it touched a
nerve. I don't think of myself as one who is quick to get his feelings
hurt, most people don't, but this just struck me wrong. Maybe you have
been in a similar situation. You make plans to go to an event at the
request of someone and then when you get there you are greeted with a
mild insult. While the intent is meant to be a humorous ice breaker or
conversation starter, it still winds up as an insult or at the very
least a sarcastic remark. I even heard it in church the other night.
Here we are inviting a public in need of deliverance to come to an event
and then they hear us, the delivered, jokingly remark to each other
some bit of sarcasm meant to make others laugh. I don't think God
laughs at this. How do we expect to impact the world when we don't
treat each other with dignity and respect. I'm not meaning we should
call everybody "brother" Tom or "Sister" Sadie, but we really should be
careful about the things that are said and how they are said.
Before you
think I'm in my palatial upstairs office and making it out to be my cloud, please
understand that I am burdened by this because it is something of which I
am guilty, even as one who claims the Name of Jesus on my life. Upon
reflection, it makes me sad that I
thought so little of people. If
I have ever been callous to you in our greeting of one another, I ask
your forgiveness. "O be careful little mouth what you say..."
The Bible has
many examples of how we are to greet one another. Many of Paul's
letters describe simple but respectful greetings, 5 times in Romans 16 (NKJV/The Message)
alone. We are instructed to greet one another with a "holy kiss" in 2 Corinthians 13:12 (NKJV/The Message), 1 Thessalonians 5:26 (NKJV/The Message), and 1 Peter 5:14 (NKJV/The Message). What a shame
that Christians have allowed a culture to degrade such an honorable
practice into something that is considered "harassment". It seems that
we are only a few short years away from even a handshake being
considered something unlawful. "O be careful little hands what you do..."
My mom used to
tell me to swallow the hateful things that were about to come out of my
mouth. I made the mistake of telling her that doing so would give me a
stomach ache.....needless to say it wasn't my stomach that was soon
aching. Her point was to not let anything come out that I could
potentially regret saying. In other words, look around and see who
might be listening (even casually), think about what is about to come out
of my mouth, and then ask this question..."With what I am about to say,
do I show respect for the person I am talking to and do I represent the
love of Jesus in what I am saying and how I am saying it, to the
preChristian person who might just be listening in?"
You never raise
yourself up by putting
someone else down. And you certainly are not obeying the command to "love one another" by creating a joke at someone else's expense. I think I heard a Redeemer say something to that
effect in regards to servant leadership one time.
He was one who knew
how to "show a little Respect..."
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy
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