By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

This past week I made the journey to Wal-Mart to purchase a new swim suit. It didn't take long to find what I was looking for and head to the checkout area.

Wal-Mart is nearly always crowded, of course, and dozens of people with full shopping carts were lined up at the eight or so lanes that were open. That day, Wal-Mart had three kinds of checkout lanes in operation: the normal lanes for people whose shopping carts were full, lanes for people with 20 items or less, and a lane for people who had 10 or less items and were paying by check or cash. Having only one item and enough cash in my pocket I naturally headed to the third lane.

There were about six or seven customers ahead of men in line but, to my dismay, I realized that the three young men in front of me had a cart that contained much more than 10 items. For some reason, this lane was not moving along with any great haste and I grew impatient. In fact, I began to resent the three men with the full cart and began to silently count the number of items in their cart.

One of the three noticed what I was doing and whispered to another, “How many items do you have in there?” “I dunno,” the tallish one pushing the cart said. “Why?” “Because this priest behind you (I was wearing my clerical shirt) is counting how many you have in there,” the shorter one replied.

The three had a hushed conversation and, obviously aware of the “10 Items or Less” sign that was prominently displayed, yet unwilling to lose their place so near the checkout lady, devised a scheme to remain in the line with some appearance of compliance.

The men divided the items up among themselves and, when they arrived at the check out line, paid for three piles of merchandise, two piles of 10 items and one pile of 11. Of course, it took nearly three times longer to process the merchandise this way, since the checkout lady had to ring up three piles, bag the items three times, and make change thrice.

But, the young men took pride in their act, having successfully violated the spirit of the rules, if not the letter of them. As I paid for my one item and left the Wal-Mart, the three men were in the parking lot, transferring all the 31 items into one larger shopping bag. Obviously, these three felt that the rules did not apply to them.

These men are not alone, of course. Georgia is currently is a state of drought, with stringent rules implemented to restrict the nonessential use of water. Yet, if one drive through the upper crust neighborhoods in the areas under restriction, one will find lush, green lawns kept that way by water flowing from hoses during the restricted hours. The home owners obviously are also of the opinion that the rules do not apply to them.

Yet, it is hard to fault the three young men at Wal-Mart, or even the selfish water-using home owners, when the standards seem to be relative for so many.

In the past several years, the nation has been subjected to its national leaders, of both parties, flagrantly breaking their supposedly sacred marriage vows, carrying on illicit affairs right in the public eye. Motorists traveling 10 miles over the speed limit will be passed on the interstate highways by law enforcement officers, blasting their way at warp speed down the roadways, leaving others standing still, ignoring the same rules they are expected to enforce.

Even in the church, it seems that the standards no longer apply. Touchstone magazine recently published a survey that indicated that the divorce rates among church members are now no different that those among non-church goers. In fact, among Baptists and independent churches, the divorce rates are actually higher than those of nonbelievers. Only among Catholics and Lutherans are divorce rates lower. Could it be that one thing is preached and quite another is practiced?

The Episcopal Church in the USA (ECUSA) recently gave approval, at their denominational convention, to so-called committed relationships outside the bounds of marriage. ECUSA apparently now believes that sexual activity, among both heterosexuals or homosexuals, is now okay, as long as the participating couples are “committed.”

Of course traditional (i.e., “orthodox”) Christianity has, for 2,000 years, condemned both fornication (cohabitation without the benefit of marriage) and homosexuality (both in scripture and in early Church writings), but, hey, the “times they are a-changing.” Like the three young men at Wal-Mart, the majority of Episcopal bishops and leaders, see the rules and cleverly attempt to repackage them, fooling no one but themselves.

Others, of course, faithfully keep the rules for the good of all and to maintain personal integrity. Not all politicians fool around, not all home owners violate the water restrictions, not all cops break the speed limit laws, not all Baptists and independent church members get divorced, not all Episcopal leaders are candidates for “heretic,” and not all Wal-Mart shoppers go through the “Ten Items or Less” lanes with 31 items in their cart.

But the number of people believing that the standards, the rules, do not apply to them seems to be growing. And that is a cause for serious concern. And like my father used to say, “Just because everybody seems to be doing it, that still doesn't make it right!”

[David Epps is rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church in the south metro Atlanta area. He may be contacted at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com or at www.ChristTheKingCEC.com.]

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