The late Douglas Adams, of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy fame, wrote, “If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands.”
How we act, and how we present ourselves does makes some sort of difference, right? That’s the point of that old cliché, after all. And when it comes to our faith, the idea of our behavior needing to follow our belief doesn’t just have folksy sayings to back it up, it has Bible verses too. Like this one from Matthew 7:
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
And this one, in James 3:
Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
So with this idea so firmly rooted in both biblical truth and cultural tradition, why is it that so many people keep trying to disconnect what they believe from how they act? The dilemma has never been more emphatically illustrated than, recently, by rapper Jayceon Taylor, more commonly known as Game. He told Vibe and sohh.com:
I'm calling [my new album] Jesus Piece 'cause last year in August I got baptized and so I've been going to church, but I still been kinda doing me out here. I still love the strip club, and I still smoke and drink. I'm faithful to my family, so I wanted to make an album where you could love God and be of God but still get it poppin' in your life. … I'm a Christian but I'm not 'holier than thou.' Jesus Piece gives me an opportunity to speak about situations that people like me who love God but are still street and still wanna remain themselves without going the Pastor Mase route. It gives the opportunity to know that it's somebody out there that feels them. … You can still have swag and be a Christian. … You can still have your Cîroc in the club, it's just a faith thing and making sure you try to do right. I'm still a father, I still smoke, I still rep Compton, I still might shoot dice or have a fight if I have to defend myself.
But I can’t end this post with my finger pointing at Game. ‘Cause there’s a cliché about that too: When you point one finger, there are three fingers pointing back at you. Maybe I’m not as flagrantly or as publically guilty as Game is. (I don’t even really know what Cîroc is! And if I did, I’m sure I couldn’t afford it.) But I’ve grown old enough and wise enough to realize that I sometimes look a whole lot more like a duck than a sheep. (And my picture’s at the top of this entry in case you want to check.)
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