Culture Shock

This will come as a shock to most of you, I'm sure.. but the truth is; I am not classy in the slightest. Yes, I know, who is this strange blog hijacker and what have I done with the real Carly. I will give you a moment to recover before I continue....

Sarcasm aside, classiness has never been a priority to me. My footwear reflects this quite well. I prefer to wear pluggers most places, and if I am not wearing pluggers I am probably wearing my beloved Connies with the abundance of holes. However, in a dramatic turn of events, today I bought a pair of shoes for the first time in about a year. They are colourful hippy slipper shoes that cost me all of $7.50. They are soft and I like them, although I don't think that the pluggers and sneakers will retire just yet.

Yesterday I was given another friendly little reminder of my distinct lack of class. Last Christmas I was given a gift voucher for a shop called Cue. At the time I had no idea what Cue was (you could say that I didn't have a cue....- get it? Cue.. clue... ok lame, sorry, moving on) and have since discovered why Cue isn't a shop that I frequent. For those of you who may share my previous ignorance, Cue is an upper class clothing store that stocks business wear for women. I don't really spend much time shopping during the semester, so now that I am on holidays, I thought I'd go and have a squiz. The person who gave me this very generous gift voucher was probably trying to subtly hint at the fact that a little class wouldn't go astray, which is ok... as previous mentioned it is certainly something that I lack. But I have never before been into a shop that is less 'me'. All of the clothes were so... dull. I counted four items of clothing that weren't either black, white or grey. How depressing. Even more depressing was the realisation that only one pair of slacks in the whole store was under $150 (which was the amount of the gift voucher and therefore all I was willing to spend). With the help of the stereotypical friendly rosy-cheeked Pommy shop assistant, we carefully took the pants from the rack (team effort) and I proceeded to try them on (no team effort). They were well made I suppose, although not at all appropriate for a school setting, which is the only place I would wear them. Actually, I'm not really sure that the tight-fitting tailoring was particularly appropriate for any public setting, so I didn't end up buying them. I left the shop assistant to put the pants back on the coat hangers, so as to not get any more of my grubby fingerprints all over them, or something equally horrifying, and left the shop feeling like a happy peasant.

Why a happy peasant? As potentially demoralising as these experiences can be, I always feel encouraged afterwards. Experiences like these remind me that my priorities don't align with the priorities of the world, and that this is actually a reason to rejoice. Our church and Bible study are beginning a series on 1 Corinthians and I was having a read of chapter 1 today. In this chapter, Paul talks about the wisdom of the world, and the Wisdom of God. Chapter 1:20 reads:

"Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?"

Worldly wisdom tells us many things. It tells us that prestige is a valuable goal that must be pursued at all costs (literally). It measures success through the lens of financial gain. It tells us that our classy exterior is intrinsically linked to our worth as capable members of society, and our ability to positively contribute. It tells us to boast in our achievements and flaunt our victories. Yet this does not align with the Wisdom that Paul writes about in Corinthians. Chapter 1:26-29 reads:

"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no-one may boast before Him."

As many of you have probably experienced, I often encounter people who look down on the way that I live because wealth, class and worldly influence are not goals that I hold in high esteem. Many a time I have been told that I am foolish for not investing my money in things that will directly and often solely lead to personal gain; be that expensive clothing, holidays, technology, or whatever is the flavour of the month. I'm so glad that the Wisdom from God far out-weighs all of these things. So what is Wisdom from God? Verse 30 clearly tells us that Wisdom from God is Christ Jesus, who is therefore our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Paul writes in Chapter 2:1-2:

"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you expect Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

I am so thankful that we have a greater goal than the priorities of this world. I am so glad that Christ has paved the way for us, and provided us with a hope, a focus and a direction. It's so easy to get lost in the values of this world. I'm as guilty of this as anyone. However I am so encouraged that even when I stray, Christ's love remains.