I LOVE the idea of Silly Bands! I find them to be the best trend I have ever seen in my lifetime. I will explain, because to most people Silly Bands are just as foolish as the parents that waste money on them for their kids, when it is just a glorified rubber band. When I was younger there were a ton of trends that were really expensive and at the time my parents couldn't afford to spend money on trends and pay the bills and send me and my brother to Christian school, and tithe, and pay for gas, etc. So I was one of the kids that watched everyone else at the cool table enjoying their trinkets and playing with Pok-e-mon cards and tomigatchis and other worthless things that don't bring real satisfaction, but that do cut other people off, creating an "Us vs. Them" mentality. I absolutely love that Silly Bands are affordable, any family can afford to buy them for their kids, so to quote Bush “No child gets left behind.” Kids trade them, which build community, and even the most socially awkward child will get attention from the cool kids if he has silly bands. I like that they are able to be flexible and yet remain in the same shape. As I have aged and learned more about life, I realize that the Church is guilty of doing the same thing, we spend small fortunes on study Bibles and other really pricey “cool Christian” stuff, isolating the poorer members of the body. We play silly games of superiority and show off our knowledge of Scripture and how amazing we are because we know different doctrines and say the word “grace” in like 10 different ways, but yet we don’t act as graceful as we should.
Like Silly Bands the Church is supposed to reflect the image of some character, the character of Christ Jesus. Jesus never played games of superiority; He was the embodiment of humility. He didn’t flaunt his fancy house or study Bible; in fact He was homeless and didn’t have a dime to His name. Why is the church like a rubber band though and not a Silly Band? First, because the Church has lost its silliness. King David said “I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” (2 Samuel 6:22) After his wife mocked the seemingly silly dance David did before the Lord. The Church has lost the silly dance it does before the Lord, instead of being different like Christ was, the Church tries to blend in with the world. Our Christian artists follow in the footsteps of secular artists, instead of allowing the Creator to be their inspiration. Our churches follow marketing strategies to get new members, instead of showing the love of God to draw men to Him. How sad is it, that we the followers of Christ follow Satan to bring people to Jesus? Another reason why the church is more rubber than silly, is it has no defined shape. Ever since the Protestant Reformation it seems like a new denomination pops up every day, I cannot imagine counting how many there are. Third, the Church doesn’t keep its shape up, after a few years of using the same rubber band, it starts to wear out and it eventually falls apart (Sure this will happen to Silly Bands too, but they haven’t been around long enough, so they have the advantage, just play along so I can make my point). Silly bands may take a second, but they always pop back into their original shape.
I love the Church, it is as much a part of my life as Jesus. I see the Church daily and talk to it, and love it. Yet I realize that the Church, much like myself is broken, and Jesus said His bride is to be “without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27). Therefore, I say let us, as the Church become a little bit more clean, more wrinkle free, in other words let us bounce back into our original shape in Christ, having no blemishes. Let us be more inclusive and understanding, let us love without shame, and give without liberality. Most of all, let us love God with all of our hearts, with all our souls, and all of our mind, let us love our neighbors as ourselves. Let the Church be more like a Silly Band, than just a rubber band. I almost forgot, one of my favorite things about Silly Bands is that they are so colorful, rubber bands are just one color, but Silly Bands have every COLOR of the rainbow, every SHAPE and every SIZE, that is just the way the Church should be.
