Saturday, November 21, 2009

Boys Who Shave


The last few days have been pretty great for me from a "living the single life" standpoint. There have been obvious moments in life where I've thought to myself, "Man, you have it good. None of your married friends have the ability or freedom to go to a bar to watch the Panthers game or stay up late watching South Park reruns. Those poor suckers. They don't know what they're missing out on."

Seriously, though. It was great to be around other bachelors, at a bar, watching sports, not worrying about anyone else. Even though now all of my friends from high school (the believers that is) are engaged or married, the single life is still something I enjoy, despite the necessity of having divergent lives. In a way, it seems the way God intended it. Live life through your 20's. See the world. Activate your adrenal glands doing things that would make good stories later. Watch South Park Marathons until 3am.

I am probably insecure about being single about 50% of the time, but the other half of the time, it really does feel pretty freeing. A way that God lets us guys forget for a split second that we still have to wait for his marriage plan way longer than we want. There are just times you experience in bachelorhood in your mid-twenties that seem to make you feel like you're actually in those budweiser commercials with all the good-looking young professionals laughing at some off-camera tomfoolery, enjoying life and freedom while their friends are at home changing diapers, watching the Home and Garden Channel.

But then I heard a sermon (not even a sermon, just a sound bite, as I had it on in the background while watching tv) from Mark Driscoll.

"You are boys who can shave."

I know he has an audience there in Seattle that he was really preaching to. But it seemed very convicting to me while I was in the middle of snickering at the Coors Lite commercial on tv, realizing I hadn't actually shaved in a few days.

Outwardly guys can appear as men and act like boys was his point I guess.

He went on talking about "Delayed Adolescence." He said that back in Jesus' time there wasn't such thing as "adolescence" much less, the delayed type. It was something that we post-Renaissance humanists made up to make money for companies in need. Like retirement or engagement rings or the Moon landing.

Back then, girls (like Mary) would get married at 12 and so would the boys. It didn't matter that they couldn't shave or drink or stay up late eating Matzah with their friends. They were men at that age. They took on the responsibilities I avoid and that was that. They were "producers" not "consumers." They worked and provided for others. They didn't waste time playing video games or mooching off their buddies.

A lot of what Driscoll kept saying didn't so much apply to me I don't think, but that was something that thankfully got me thinking. "I can do all the things that define men, but am I acting like one?" I'm not particularly neat or organized. I can change my own oil and shave and play fantasy football for money legally, but am I capable of doing the responsible things that men can?

I started looking around my room in despair. Then I looked at the inside of my car. Even worse.

My freshman year at UNC one of my Bible study leaders started going on and on with an endless story from his life. He was talking about living selfishly in relation to David living in Ziklag while on the run from Saul. He wasn't really able to do anything, to move the plot of his life story along very far. But being prepared in our Ziklags, he said, was just as important as growth on the throne when we're the boss. It was a good reminder of how I should be focused on becoming a person with character and a strong core now so that I won't have to flesh out that sin later with someone else.

So all of these deep revelations led me to do the most obvious thing to me. Make my bed every day. Seriously, I'm not kidding. I'm gonna start doing it every day. Yes, I know that I've argued with my parents since I was 5 at the merits of doing something that will just get undone in a matter of hours, but I'm starting now. Here's a picture to prove it to you. Hopefully this thing catches on and it turns my life around.

-D