Category: irony

A Pig In A Dress

Tuesday’s Column: Dale Mail 

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Dale Pollard

The Muppets are great. Those classic characters like Kermit the Frog, Animal, and Fozzy Bear have entertained us for years. The writers of that show understood and appreciated the humor found in irony. In one particular episode, Mrs. Piggy is about to marry Kermit and It’s hilarious to see a pig in a wedding dress. Pigs don’t wear dresses…or do they?

The church has been described as the “Bride of Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2-3). What kind of bride are we? An ugly bride is not unified, calloused towards one another, hateful, hard hearted, hard headed, and proud. The truth is, an ugly church can only be made up of ugly people. Sin is an ugly thing, and the display and manifestations of sins such as pride and hatred turn even the worldly away.

Think about 1 Peter 3:8-11, “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.” What we have described and depicted here is an attractive bride. Don’t let your life combined with Jesus be a juxtaposition. Don’t make the Bride of Christ a pig in a dress.

AN IRRECONCILABLE IRONY

Neal Pollard

Some years ago an AP wire report yielded this incredible, true story.  Apparently a dirty joke was sent by a company employee to 6,000 people!  What was so unusual?  The perpetrator, intending to send a daily report to reporters and government officials, was a federal communications commission employee!  The headline read, “Joke Is On The FCC” (via Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/9/99). The FCC, charged with setting decency limits on various media outlets, was guilty of that which they are employed to prevent. Ironic!

The jokes abound.  Plumbers have the worst pipers.  Electricians have the faultiest wiring.  Doctors are the sickest people.  Preachers’ kids get in the most trouble.  They learn it from the elders’ kids.  While these are more axiomatic than true, there are guilty plumbers, electricians, doctors, preachers, elders, lawyers, politicians, and the like out there.  They get such attention because they fail at that which is supposed to epitomize and characterize them!

Christians become Christians through grace and obedient faith (Eph. 2:8-10).  But Christianity is more than a state of being.  It requires certain characteristics to be in one’s life.  A Christian is part of a spiritually “chosen race, royal priesthood, and holy nation” and is a person “for God’s own possession” (1 Pet. 2:9).  Moreover, a Christian is one redeemed from all iniquity, purified unto himself, and zealous of good works (Ti. 2:14).  A Christian is one who has put fleshly deeds to death (Col. 3:5).  A Christian takes on “the fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-23), which means assuming a code of conduct and disposition of heart that is clear before the world’s eyes (Matt. 5:14-16).

There is an irreconcilable irony when a Christian is indistinct, indifferent, immoral, and inconsistent!  Like salt without taste, a Christian who dresses, talks, and behaves like a worldly person cannot be properly used by God (cf. Matt. 5:13).  A Christian without ethics, morality, honesty, and integrity is a walking oxymoron.  A Christain who talks one talk and walks another makes no sense and draws no following, at least none leading to Christ (cf. John 12:32; 1 Cor. 11:1).

Will the “Great Report” reveal that we, as Christians, spoke and showed the saving message or the wrong message?  What message are we sending to others?  Let it not be the irony of wearing a name we are not honoring.

Doctor in lab coat smoking a cigarette Original Filename: 88300580.jpg