Illuminating the Gray.

I was at the gym the other day attempting to expend some pent up aggression. When I go to the gym -- the germ-infested, meathead sanctuary known as 24 Hour Fitness – I do everything I can to minimize time spent there. I just get in, put in the headphones, set a goal, wash hands profusely, and get out. No one gets hurt and the world is peaceful. However, every now and then I get unsatisfied with my music and my workout and my eyes start wandering (big mistake) and I see things that no human should be subjected to. It is because of this fact that I should warn you there is a good chance there will be a future blog entitled “Hey Scantily Clad Work-Out Girl, This is Not the Garden of Eden, Clothe Thyself!”

But, I digress.

The other day when I was there on the stair climber nearing death, I was completely engrossed in some music I had recently placed on my shuffle. Climbing to the worshipful sounds of Explosions in the Sky, I found myself essentially in another world; my mind jumping from one topic to another at an alarming rate. Most importantly, I was entirely unaware of the reality of my setting.

Suddenly – and I’m not so sure how much time had past – I started recognizing that the entire building was surprisingly empty … and the lights! Why were they flashing? Slowly, I started dripping back into reality and I noticed there was a sharp ringing in my ears that I knew wasn’t my music. Then, I looked down to see one of the cute little fitness gals trying to get my attention from the floor.

Discombobulated, I nearly fell off the stair climber while trying to pull my headphones out of my ears while -- not having any concept of volume with the instrumental craziness assaulting my ear drums -- loudly asking “What is happening?!”

So, long story short, after completely embarrassing myself, I was notified that the fire alarm had gone off and the fire department was on their way to investigate. Needless to say, the entire structure was evacuated and because of my state of oblivion, I was one of the very last people to vacate the premises.

Shamefully, I exited the front of the building to find everybody else already outside. Apparently they had got the memo a lot sooner than I that the building was potentially burning down. I quickly blended into the crowd and look incredulously back at the building and thought to myself, “How in the world did I not notice the bright flashing blue lights, the insanely loud sirens, and the fact that everyone had cleared out? How could I have been that out of it?”

My pastor gave an incredible sermon the other day with the inadvertent tagline “Missing the Miraculous in our Midst.” He spoke about how we, especially as Americans, are so configured to rush through our daily lives accomplishing, consuming, and producing as much as possible that we trample over the divine whispers and blessings that are dispersed throughout our daily happenings. We miss Him when He shows up in our lives and consequently we miss out on knowing Him. Essentially, we become so consumed with our own goals that we cheat ourselves from accomplishing our one simple purpose: To know God.

Standing in the parking lot of the gym that day perplexed as to how I could have been so unaware of the reality that beset me, I was struck with the metaphorical realization that that small episode was a snapshot of what we as Christians so often allow our lives in general to look like. Here we are on the daily grind working full force ahead for our own goals. We want the job, we want the family, we want the vacation, we want the appearance of piety, we want recognition, etc. etc. But in our pursuits, we absolutely miss the reality of where we are. We overlook the truth of our surroundings and mask it with loud distractions and refuse to take notice when the sirens are going off telling us to get out.

These last couple of months I, personally, have found myself stumbling into the “gray area” of the world and forgetting – or rather ignoring – what I know to be black and white truth. I was reading something the other day that says that our enemy’s favorite color is gray, if he can get us to compromise and say “Did God really say such-and-such is bad?” (reminiscent of the question he asked Eve in the Garden) he has got us right where he wants us: in the ambiguous, everything-in-moderation, free-for-all mentality. That being said, my biggest fear is becoming a judgmental, legalistic, pious freak of a Christian where all I can and want to do is sit inside and knit sweaters with bible verses on them (I apologize if that is offensive). But I think not engaging the world is just as bad as over-engaging the world. Somewhere we have to strike a balance where we are indeed “in the world and not of it” and not compromising but not condemning.

In pondering and discussing all of the above with much wiser people than myself, I think alleviating gray area is the best place to begin in acquiring the balance. For myself, I plan to start by turning down my music at the gym, refusing to wear anything gray, and rethinking my obsession with “Grey’s Anatomy.”(Ok, so forget the last one completely … new episodes resume April 24th! No legalism here!) But in all seriousness, as I have mentioned in previous rantings, our relative society wants us to think that there is no absolute truth and there is no absolute right and wrong. Therefore, our surroundings are constantly advocating the view for all of us to live in the gray area of concession. However, as followers of Jesus – the man whom we, as Christians, believe was the embodiment of truth – we know that there is in fact absolute truth. Making that a reality, setting ourselves apart, and living what we speak – even when you’re at the gym amongst half naked ‘roiders – is where the reality of being a Christian takes form ... or it doesn't.