What Quirks have you picked up from your evangelical past?
This could be expanded include youthwork in general, and other traditions, but evangelicalism is the context in which I forged my identity.
There was a bizarre mix of fear, repression and doom; combined with creativity, and lots of genuine love. But analysing that is not the purpose of this post! When we live and learn, we experience Metaknoia. The scars we collect along the way form our character, the stains colour the light flowing through us like a beautiful window – full of stories.
Please use the comments to display the quirks you picked up!
(look for the button at the top of the page).
What things remained with you during your formative years, what things still remain?
Inspired by stories of evangelists I practiced a lifestyle ready to be called to a land without the comforts of Glasgow. I got comfortable with sleeping on the floor. I shave in cold water with a trad “safety razor”. Encouraged “Not to conform” I chose a wardrobe that was as logo free as I could go without being too fussy. Any colour as long as it accepted all others (which as I am at heart a physicist means black). I was supported by my family to volunteer at youth camps every summer, which I value greatly – but a quirk I have developed is a deep suspicion of people doing things to earn or generate personal wealth.
Reflect on the quirks you inherited.
- Are there ones do you value, but have left behind?
- Are some core to your being?
- Would you hope to pass any on?
One reply on “Show and Tell”
I don’t regret anything about my evangelical upbringing except for the old dilemma of looking good to people rather than God. Looking back it does seem a lot of motivation around me came from trying to conform to someone else’s idea of what a Christian should look like.
Judging one’s self is not far away from judging others so this can be dangerous and it’s been a life-time project to kick the habit. Still not there BUT the golden centre of knowing I have been chosen by God to encounter Him/Her in the world and in the word of the Bible is something that becomes greater than any self doubt or delusion.