On Colored Ribbons

COLORED RIBBONS

Base Scripture: Philippians 4:8 – “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”

You know, I hate to take on “sacred cows” because the attacks of the “bull” that protects them can get you pretty bloody sometimes, but here goes anyway. Should Christians be involved in campaigns that involve wearing or displaying certain colored symbols (ie, ribbons, t-shirts, balloons, etc) that are representative of specific maladies in order to “raise awareness” of that sickness or disease?

Here’s the scenario that brought this on: I was out walking my Jack Russells the other morning (or should I say, they were walking me), contemplating God’s presence and handiwork, when I saw one of my neighbors walking down his driveway with his three-ish little daughter following him; he had a pink balloon in his hand which he was apparently taking out to attach to his mailbox. So after a greeting I said to him, “Oh, is someone in your house having a birthday today (meaning the little girl following him)?” To which he replied, “No, I’m putting out my balloon for the ‘Paint The Town Pink’ project going on in town this weekend for breast cancer awareness (as in, “didn’t you get the memo?”).” Then I remember reading somewhere that the local postmistress of the town I live in had organized this ‘Paint The Town Pink’ campaign for this weekend with the idea of everyone wearing pink ribbons and/or pink T-shirts and attaching pink balloons to their mailboxes to raise awareness of breast cancer. So anyway, now I’m forced to take the rest of our walk, as well as the walks I take for the next two days, being “made aware” of breast cancer every few hundred yards, instead of having one of the prettiest colors God made in this world remind me of the beautiful females in my family, or of the softly tinted moisture-laden clouds that occasionally muffle one of God’s glorious sunrises (or sunsets).

As I continued my walk that day, and later on in my prayer time, I decided to ask the Father what He thought about this practice. What follows are some of the thoughts I believe He was sharing with me.

We have allowed a world of well-meaning people to purloin some of God’s most beautiful colors to represent or remind us of some of the most ravaging and debilitating diseases that Satan has inflicted on this earth; and we, as Christiansh and Believers have enabled this practice, and sometimes have participated in it, in the name of compassion and comradery. Please don’t misunderstand me here: I’m not denying that breast cancer, aids, heart disease (the number 1 killer of Americans), other cancers, Down’s syndrome and a plethora of other diseases and illnesses exist in the world (and the Church) today; nor am I advocating that we stick our head in the sand and ignore them. What I am saying is that they have no right to exist in the life of a Believer or in the Kingdom of God, so we should not be dwelling on their presence!

Here’s the problem with this practice: Do you see that it is impossible to live by the tenets of Php 4:8 if every time I see a specific color it causes me to think about a specific sickness or disease? The idea is diametrically opposed to the Word of God, regardless of our good intentions. Let me ask you this: Can you show me anywhere in the teachings of Jesus or the New Testament Scriptures where we are encouraged to create and display symbols of sickness and disease in order to remind ourselves and others that they exist in this decaying world and need to be “dealt with?” I’m here to tell you, my brothers and sisters, you ain’t gonna find anything like that because it’s simply not in God’s plans for the way Believers are supposed to deal with Satan and his tools of destruction.

Please believe me when I say that I am not trying to belittle the efforts of those in the world to seek funding for their causes or consolation for their (or their loved ones) conditions. That is all they know to do to fight against the maladies which are increasingly invading our lives. I will say, though, that the number one killer of both men and women in the United States is not breast cancer or aids; it’s heart disease, and I don’t recall any specially colored ribbon being set aside to wear to raise awareness of that fact!

Consider this:

- If we were to wear one colored ribbon to represent all the different colored support ribbons, wouldn’t the appropriate color for that ribbon be black, since black is the combination of all colors? In other words, aren’t all of those colored ribbons derivatives of the color black? When you’re trying to make a statement with color (as opposed to trying to dress fashionably), isn’t black usually associated with death and mourning, as well as morbidity and evil and darkness?

- On the other hand, white is the absence of all colors. Isn’t white usually associated with purity, life, hope and Godliness? As Christians and Believers, why don’t we start wearing white ribbons on statement-making occasions; then, when people ask us why we are wearing white, we can tell them that it represents Jesus Christ, who defeated all sickness, disease and death by His death and resurrection, and who lives in us now. It helps us to “raise awareness” that by His wounds, we are healed (Is 54:5, 1 Pet 2:24), and it promotes “research” into getting a hold of this fact and applying it to our lives.

Your Brother in Christ,

MarkMc