Enough already!

It was only a matter of time. All the talk in the media about Floyd Landis, "the Mennonite rider," could only result in one thing for me, "the Mennonite nurse's aide": sooner or later, I was going to be asked about it. I suppose I should be thankful for it, since it gives me an opportunity to witness to my co-workers as well as telling me that people know that I'm "different" and want to know more about it.

First, a little history. There are seven of us heavy-duty workers there that work on my floor. Three of us are only on my floor, with one or two of us there at one time (sometimes two in the summer, only one during school,) and four that "float" over three floors, with mine being one of them. Only two of them are there at any given time. Lately, one of the floater guys has started bringing his Bible to read during downtime. That inspired another floater to bring a book to read also. FYI, he's reading John Eldridge's Wild at Heart. That inspired me to take a book to read also, so I choose to take Max Lucado's And The Angels Were Silent. Much better, I must admit, than sitting around talking mostly about trivial things and watching SportsCenter on ESPN. Oh yeah, sometimes a few of us get a copy of the daily paper and do the Sudoku and the crossword puzzle. But that's a bunny trail...

So this morning, while we're talking about one of the guy's trip to Europe, and reading our respective books, and SportsCenter is muted, who are they talking about on SC but Mark McGuire. Now, we guys are typical guys, and normally free ourselves to make any comment that we feel led to make. So I piped up. "Cheater!"

"You mean about the steroids deal?"

"Uh-huh."

"Yeah." "I know."

"Hey, what about ole Floyd Landis? He's a Mennonite, isn't he?"

So then we launched into a conversation about how he had left the Mennonite faith, no longer associated himself with the Mennonites, and all that stuff. I clarified that it wasn't professional sports that was the major problem: rather, it was the fact that most sports are played on Sunday, and that Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest. Then we got into where the Mennonites came from, there relation to the Amish, Baptists, and Methodists. (One of the guys, the one who was asking questions, is a Baptist. The other is a Methodist. He and I had had this discussion last week when the Baptist was on vacation.) I shared some of the key differences that the Mennonites had (actually they were called the Swiss Brethren of themselves, and Anabaptists by others), such as believer's baptism vs. infant baptism (fortunately we didn't get into modes of baptism!!), nonresistance, and separation of church and state. I was able to share with them how we feel that Christians should not be part of the government because of Romans 12 and 13, which explains the Christian's responsibility vs. the government's responsibility. I explained that, because I don't believe that Christians belong in office, I don't vote, because if I vote for someone, I must fully support his decisions, either conservative or liberal, including going to war, or supporting abortion if I vote for one who believes that it is okay. They couldn't grasp that idea. One of them said,"Yes, I am all for separation of church and state. But I take pride in the fact that I can take part in putting a Godly leader into office to lead this nation, just like putting a Godly leader in position to lead a congregation." They both felt that, if Christians weren't in government, then the nation would not last, saying things like "this nation was founded on Christian principles" and "Christian leaders help with the moral values in the country." I countered with "God will set up whom He will, and He will take down whom He will." It was a very good conversation for me. I say that not because I convinced someone that I was right (I didn't) or that they were wrong (I didn't); no, it was good for me spiritually to know where I stand, and why I believe what I believe. 'Cause, trust me, "my church tells me to do it like this," "that's the way Father, Grandfather, Great-Grandfather, etc., have always done it," "that's how we've always done it," "my church won't allow me to" (yeah right, who ever held a gun to your head and forced you to do something against your will? If you do wrong and you are disciplined, take it right. If it is not wrong, show me where you can do it Biblically!!). Nuh-uh. Nope. No way. That will work neither for the agnostic who is looking to blow holes in your balloon of a belief, nor for the seeker who is looking for an umbrella from the storm. Gotta find your own reasons why and why not.

So thanks, Floyd. Maybe I'll reconsider my title. Maybe it isn't "enough already!" Perhaps it is, humbly,"Bring it on." Not because I have all the answers, but because I need to find the answers, find what I believe and where the Bible addresses it. So again, Thanks, Floyd. Really.

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I've got a Bible that is begging to be opened...