My Purple Yoga Pants

I used to be a fairly impressionable guy and, for the most part, I was willing to roll wherever my earthly appetites took me. But then I came to Christ, or, to be more accurate, Christ came to me, and I believed.

Having paddled along behind Jesus these past 35 years, I find my canvas far less willing to sail with the prevailing breeze.

I still believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. That pornography is an abomination. That divorce is an evil, ugly and destructive business. That a boy is a boy and a girl is a girl. That we, as mature men, are responsible for shepherding the flock in Word and sacrament and should not be shirking our responsibility to take up arms in frontline spiritual or physical combat by laying the burden on our womenfolk, our daughters or our wives. I also still believe that parading our pride down High Street is a very bad idea.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)

Even in my short lifetime, what used to be considered true is now considered false. What used to be the bleeding obvious is now considered obscure and complicated and a “who can say?” What used to be wicked is now good.

And for those who think I speak from some lofty tower, let it be known that I have either been or done pretty much all of those things listed above. But, from all those things, Jesus Christ has set me free.

And so it is that today I find myself unable to wear the purple yoga pants that the current culture demands I wear. My backbone has stiffened with age, and I am neither willing nor able to put my feet behind my ears and shuffle along the grass like a dog with worms.

All of which puts me outside the city gates (Hebrews 13:11-14), which is fine by me. The company is excellent, and the air is fresh and clean.

One of the complaints levelled at Christianity is that it is restrictive and oppressive. People complain about the rules. But what rules are they talking about? Do you object to rules that protect human life? Rules that enable you to leave your scooter out in the driveway and find it there the next morning? Rules that prevent the spread of chlamydia? Rules that guard the right to private property and free trade?

It’s not the Word of God that is restrictive but the oppressive regulations of secular religion brought about by our own sin.

You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. (2 Corinthians 6:12)

What is oppressive is being told that you can’t drive more than 15 minutes in any direction. What is oppressive is having someone you’ve never met come and take your children, or your home, under threat of force. What is oppressive is being made to undergo experimental medical procedures so you can keep your job, feed your family, or go to church. What is restrictive is being told by some nerd which pronouns you can and can’t use and which foods you can and can’t eat.

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”… These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting man-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20-23)

I would suggest that it’s them, and not us, who are groaning under the weight of the law. And will be increasingly miserable as the days roll on.

What is true, and real, and beautiful, and good, is not determined by our lusts and has nothing to do with the calendar. God is the same yesterday and today; what is true today and what was true fifty years ago will still be true tomorrow.

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)

And this is why I will continue to believe in and uphold the value of the unborn,  the singular and unique beauty of womanhood and the sacrificial responsibility of manhood—and the obvious differences between the two.

Wisdom is justified by her children (Luke 7:35). And this is why I will continue to raise my kids as believers in the fear and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4) and not hand them over to the Romans for their education. And this is why I shall continue to kill the pig and drink the Chardonnay.

The law of Christ is the law of liberty. Not licence to do as I please, but the liberty to live as a man. To live as I have been created.

I can no longer fit into the skinny jeans of this world, and I’m learning to be content outside the city gates in my dungarees.

Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13:13-16)

There, outside the city gates, where God alone is my refuge, I can sing the Psalms at the top of my lungs. I can stand within six feet of my brother, hug my sister, honour my mother in her old age, share my roast beef sandwiches and rejoice in the goodness of God with a free and open heart.

There, outside the city gates, I am free in spirit to enjoy the sweet sleep of a conscience made clean by Christ.

All of which has come, not by abandoning the Word of God by degrees but by embracing it.