So said one of our elementary students after the senior pastor’s wife spoke to him about his aggressive behavior here at church.

Now, I’m not one of those law & order, Footloose types who believes that rule-keeping is the way to inherit eternal life. I’m wondering, though, about how this student came to this conclusion. Did his parents sit him down and say to him, “Son, you must do well in school and you must obey the rules there. Don’t even think about crossing the line at home. Same goes for when we’re out in public. But, happy day when Sunday arrives, because you can totally lose it when you get to church. Seriously, go nuts when you get to the church building.”

I wish that statement were uttered in a positive way. I can do whatever I want here — I can exercise passion, creativity and joy when I’m here! I can worship God with gladness and sincerity, I can dream of ways to partner with friends here in participating in God’s work in the world, I can have fun with others in ways that are not aggressive, mean and/or inappropriate.

One day…