Many, many years ago, when serving as a youth director at Chalfont
United Methodist Church, our group learned a song by Steve Croft called
"Pierce My Ear." It was a pretty sappy song now that I look back on it
but the message was important. In Exodus 21, God set parameters for
voluntary slavery among the Hebrew people (this culture issue is for
another day). You can read about it
here.
In this text, a Hebrew slave about to be set free could choose to enter
into lifetime slavery by having an awl driven through his earlobe - in
essence nailing him to the door! Later, in the New Testament, Paul used
language that speaks of his status as a "
servant of Jesus Christ." (The word - doulos - in the Greek is closer to slave than servant.)
I
began to join these two images together - ear piercing and slave for
Christ - even hosting a youth-led worship service on these texts.
So
. . . long before it was popular to have piercings and tattoos, I
sensed this call to have my ear pierced as an acknowledgment that I was
God's servant for life. I wanted to tangibly show how much I loved
Christ - he was pierced so that i could be set free from sin and death -
I owed him my life. But I waited. . .
Finally,
several years after the youth group thing and at the culmination of an
amazing year in a project called The Beeson Pastoral Leadership and
Biblical Preaching program (another story), I did it. In a nondescript
kiosk at the local mall in Kentucky, with Michelle at my side, I marked
my allegiance to God by having my ear pierced. We picked out a cross
earring to replace the stud and I have been wearing a cross ever since.
Yea, not as dramatic as having an awl driven through my ear, but it
works. (One woman in my last church shared that she had a dream of my
ear being pierced and in that moment a blinding flash of light emanated
from my ear - pretty cool if you ask me)
So now you
know. The cross earring is not a fashion statement but a faith
statement. I am a "doulos" of Jesus Christ. I love him because he
first loved me and gave himself up as a sacrifice on my behalf and as a
ransom for many. What's your faith statement?
(Now I'm trying to figure out what tattoo I should get - because - God's not done with me yet.)
