Don't Pinch Me!

Allow me to paint a picture in your mind. It's middle school. 7th grade. Middle of spring. You show up to school and scurry inside the building, hiding your face so as not to be associated with the dork in the station wagon that just dropped you off. Your heart races as you try to find some of your friends to sit with in the lunch room before homeroom. To your satisfaction you see a group of boys you feel comfortable sliding onto the seat beside. Then it happens. You feel a fiery pain on the back of your arm that nearly forces you to jump over the table. Your voice cracks out an "Owww!"
"Your not wearing any green." The sadistic torturer informs you.
"OK, you just pinched the crap out of my arm. Are we all pointing out the obvious today?"
"It is Saint Patrick's day, you gotta wear green or you will get pinched."
You feverishly check all of your clothing from bookbag to socks to find some speck of green. If you are lucky you find that the emblem on your shirt is green or that it is on a bracelet you had tossed in your bookbag. If you are unlucky, you find that the boxer shorts you begged your mom to buy you contain green mixed among the plaid. You will now spend the rest of your day watching for pinchers ready to announce that the green is on your underwear. However, if you are still rocking the whitey tighties and the rest of you is without that elusive color, you are doomed. You see all of those boys that you thought were your friends turn to you with a devilish hunger in their eyes. Today is not going to be a good day.

Sometimes I find myself concerned with just what it takes to be a Christian.

Intellectually, this makes me wonder, what is the baseline requirement to be a Christian? It concerns me that this does not seem to be a question that Jesus was concerned with answering. People ask him all the time, and it seems that he gives a slightly different answer every time. Sometimes it is believe (John 3:16). Sometimes it is serve (Matthew 25: 31-46). Sometimes it is give away everything and follow him (Matthew 19:16-30).

Practically, I ask: am I doing "enough?" This question always returns disastrous results. If I answer yes, then I am complacent or prideful in my self-assessment. If I answer no, I console myself with the idea that I will never be able to do enough. This only grants me half-comfort and still challenges me to keep trying.


The imagery of light is often used in relation to the Christian life. The cool thing about light is that it does not have just one purpose. It is warmth, security, clarity, beauty, fuel, necessary for growth, comfort, and ultimately life-giving. Light is invasive and is exponentially potent.

When Christ comes into our lives, this light permeates our existence. This light comes into our lives and illuminates the dark corners of our souls. It gives us purpose and direction. It gives us peace and comfort. It pours out of us dispelling the darkness both inside ourselves and in our world.

So no longer should we be the kid living in fear of St. Patrick's day. We should be the one who brings in enough clover-leaf necklaces to save everyone from pain. We should stand atop the lunchroom table bidding others who are persecuted and burdened to come and fear no more. We can then celebrate this nonsensical holiday with the utmost of joy and live our lives with hope again.