Thoughts on the Carnival Band

So there are many who are all upset about this Carnival Band. Catholics and Non-Catholics. It is important to note that Non Catholics don't like the church and anything we do... so their point of view really does not count in this issue.

I for my part am willing to find out about the experience. I will give it a chance. Will it be a good one or will it fail like the Bajan's priests attempt at a cropover band some years ago? Only time will tell.

You know King David danced in a loin cloth in front of the Ark of the Covenant (Samuel 6:14). I will not condone the nakedness of Carnival and I think that this effort is for the Glory of God so I look foward to seeing how it turns out.

Here is an interesting note from a blog with no relation to the Trinidad Carnival which I think could be relevant to the issue. It is about Partying:

Posted in Chaplydia's blog 2009-02-26
Inviting Jesus to the Party

The first miracle of Jesus was performed at a surprising place, a wedding. It was apparently a pretty big party because before the end of the party, the wine ran out. Mary approached Jesus to remedy the problem and while He did admonish her for trying to interfere with the program of God, He still acquiesced to her request.

There are several observations that one could make from this story.

The first is that even in our celebration, if we invite Christ, He will make it better.

When we invite Jesus into the places where we normally exclude Him, we may find that our view of that place changes. When we are not embarrassed or ashamed to take Christ to the party places of our lives we may see Him in a different light, and see how we behave differently as well. Even though Jesus is not a party animal, he did not spend His entire life in the synagogue. We see in Cana and other instances in Scripture that Jesus liked people and their celebrations. The Pharisees, in an attempt to discredit Him called Him a "winebibber" and gave the impression that He was not religious enough. That did not stop Him. He saw celebrations as part of human life. Our goal is not to stop celebrating, but rather bring Christ into the mix.

Second, Jesus did not promote asceticism. The idea that Jesus would turn water into wine and that He would party with his friends, tells us that monastic piety is not what the Christian life is all about. We do not have to abstain from all worldly pleasures; what we have to do is to maintain our loyalty to Christ in the midst of being human. This is much more difficult that avoiding anything that might be difficult to handle. Paul tells us that we can do "all things" through Christ who strengthens us" Php 4:13. Taking Jesus to the party, instead of avoiding it altogether, would be a better plan.

Third, we must include Christ in everything we do in order to live a fulfilled life. When we take Jesus with us to the party, we should also realize that He should be with us always. Taking Him to the places where we would not normally take Him enables us to begin to take Him everywhere. After all, if we are to become like Him, we cannot exclude Him from any part of our lives.

What party are you going to without Him? Where are the places in your life that you would ban Him from? Start thinking about that, and plan to take Him with you in the very places that you would never have Him go...just see what happens.

Rev Dr. Cheryl A Durham, Biblical Counselor, Discipleship Coach, Above and Beyond Discipleship Ministries, provides services for individuals and groups online and via teleconference. www.abovenbeyonddiscipleship.com