Why It’s Easy to Spot a Non-Conformist
I suppose that every generation has them. They are the ones who adamantly refuse to conform to whatever norms there are at a given time and/or place.
My generation probably didn’t invent the idea, but many sure popularized it. Some of us did not buy into the entire agenda, but we were influenced in various ways. One of those ways was seen in what could very loosely be called a “wardrobe” back then.
Anything that was deemed to be “dressy” or “formal” was frowned upon. We were determined to not look like our parents. If they wanted to get dressed up, that was fine with us, but we were intent on dressing down. Who wanted to wear shoes when we could make a statement (or follow the crowd) with sandals or maybe even go barefoot? Who wanted to take the time to make sure their hair looked just right when you could just let it grow longer (and maybe get dirtier)? Why make sure slacks or skirts were cleaned and maybe even pressed when ratty old jeans were readily available? What’s so special about collars and buttons on a shirt or blouse, when a t-shirt was available? (Does tie-dye ring a bell?)
It may surprise you where these thoughts came from. I was not reminiscing about my younger days. Actually, what prompted all of this was very current.
I started thinking about what I see online about some of the new trends in some religious circles. I am intrigued especially by those who refuse to be bound by tradition. In some ways, their mindsets seem to be similar to the mindsets of some of us who were in our teens and early 20’s during the 1960’s and 1970’s. If the “in word” among young people then was cool, that word among those trying to be different in religious circles today seems to be contemporary.
Here is the similarity (at least from one guy’s perspective) between the days of my youth and the days of my “non-youth.” It seems to me that what might be called a societal or cultural message when I was (much) younger has transformed into a religious statement today.
I watched a portion of a worship assembly online recently. It seemed clear to me from some of the things I observed that there was an intentional effort to not do things the way they had been done in the past. That was clear because of their actions.
That “nontraditional message” was also clear for another reason. All of the men who led in any way during the worship service wore either jeans or casual pants. All but one of them had their shirt tails out. Apparently, one man didn’t “get the memo.” The tail of his casual shirt was tucked in.
Before I offend somebody and/or I’m misunderstood, I need to try to make something clear. I am not trying to say that anybody who wears something other than a suit when he is leading a worship assembly is “sending a message.” It is not at all unusual for the men who “take a leading role” where I worship to choose different attire for the occasion. In fact, it is unusual for all of them to be dressed in similar ways.
What unites these men is not their choice of clothing, but their love for the Lord and a willingness to assist the congregation in our efforts to worship Him. In fact, the people they are assisting (the rest of the people in the congregation) are diverse in many ways – including how we dress.
What prompted this post was merely something that I thought of as I watched that worship service and, for some reason, connected it with how things were about a half century ago. It appears to me that what was true on college campuses when I was much younger is now true in some church buildings today. It is easy to spot nonconformists because…
they all look alike!
How ironic is that?
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
