a purer conversation...

Barbies among Sisters, Kens among Brothers

Remember the Barbie and Ken doll craze of our childhood? My sister had a Barbie doll, Ken doll, Barbie and Ken's friends dolls, and whatever other dolls there were. I'm pretty sure she even had a Barbie Car for them to ride in. The thing I remember most about the Barbie doll craze is how perfect their physical forms were, remember that? Barbie had the supposed perfect form, blonde hair, bright white smile, and her hubby [or live-in partner, ;), whatever he was], Ken, had the slender, fit physique, 'perfect' skin tone and all. I'm not sure what the Barbie creators based their design on, but I know this much, it wasn't based on the average American Joe. Well, the average American, non-Californian Joe. :) Why did they create them so "perfectly" formed?

Well, it only makes sense, really. Our society responded so well to the Barbie craze because there is such a craving for "looking the best, being the best." We saw then and we see today the constant push to have the perfect "bod," the best hair, the whitest teeth, the smoothest skin, etc. (Okay, part of me has to admit that some of the fitness craze is not all bad, after all, we are the fattest, laziest country in the world, it seems) The problem, though, is that we are so focused on what our outside looks like, that the inside gets little or no attention. Thus, the result is a bunch of Kens and Barbies running around, that is, 'pretty' on the outside, empty like a plastic bottle on the inside.

As the church has moved forward into the technologically advanced, progressively contemporary culture, a problem has come up. (Truly, I'm kind of barking at the choir on this, because we've all heard and talked about what I'm talking about in this post) and this is it: We have many Barbies among Sisters, and Kens among Brothers. That is, mixed in the fellowship of Christ, the church, there are fervent, faithful followers of Christ (AKA believers) and empty, worldly focused ragamuffins, (AKA Barbies and Kens). . . and I'm not yakking' at the Barbies and Kens, wishing they would vacate from the premises of our churches. Quite the opposite in fact, they truly need Jesus "more," if you will, than already existing believers. I am, though, yakking at the leadership of Christ's church simply because of their lack of true teaching, edification, and biblical responsibility as leaders.

Matt Chandler, lead pastor of The Village Church, made a great point in a recent sermon. He basically said that if you go to a church and everybody looks perfect, and everybody holds hands, and nobody seems to have any problems, and they hug each other and serve each other perfectly, that you should LEAVE QUICKLY!!. His point in a nutshell is that there is no perfect place, because mankind is wholly broken. Sure, some believers are hopefully more mature, more encouraging, more exemplary, more exciting, and more faithful than others, but they are called leaders (at least ideally). So if everyone acts (key word, 'acts') perfect, than there is a much bigger problem in that community than what appears on the surface.

Bottom line: I worry that the church today, or at least in many expressions of it, is messily struggling with trying to look real pretty on the outside, but looking awfully ugly on the inside. It seems as though people want to look like Barbie, or look like Ken, all while not caring about the empty plastic this kind of lifestyle exhibits. The goal is to look like Christ, not like Barbie, right? So why, then, do we look like Barbie and like Ken, in many respects?

. . . my computer is about to die, so I will pause for now, but more is to come later. In the mean time, fill me in on where I'm wrong, and maybe where I'm right, but didn't flesh it out enough . . .

posted by Bryan Laramore @ 5:12 PM