A Turtle Doesn't Have Baggage
June 9, 2002 - by Jeny "Running Brook" Covill

"I, Paul, promise you that Christ won't do you any good if you get circumcised.  If you do, you must obey the whole Law.  And if you try to please God by obeying the Law, you have cut yourself off from Christ and his wonderful kindness.  But the Spirit makes us sure that God will accept us because of our faith in Christ.  If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, it makes no difference whether you are circumcised or not. All that matters is your faith that makes you love others." Gal 5:2-6 CEV

Although this is in the context of the OT covenant with circumcision and the NT covenant with Christ, I couldn't help but think of the religious chains and burdens in our country from the mainstream Church.   Our Native leaders are crying out this message of Galatians, but who is listening?  Instead of a 2000 year old controversy of circumcised (outward) and uncircumcised (inward) faith, we face a 21st century version of inward verses outward expression of covenant and faith.  Only instead of circumcision of flesh, it is circumcision of Native tradition.

What if Galatians read like this:

"I promise you that Christ won't do you any good if you cut away all your Native tradition.  If you do, you must obey the whole religious law and practices of the contemporary 'white' Christian Church.  And if you try to please the Creator by obeying this doctrine, with its traditions and expectations, you have cut yourself off from Christ and his wonderful kindness.  But the Spirit makes us sure that the Creator will accept us because of our faith in Christ.  If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, it makes no difference whether you are following the ways of Euro-American 'white' contemporary worship or not. All that matters is your faith that makes you love others."

There are many of us who get caught in this struggle of outside verses inside.  In fact, I have been feeling pretty upside-down and backwards for 5 years.   I am finally firmly planting my feet on the ground, facing forward and bringing my inside to the outside.  The peace in walking out our salvation in Christ is found in Truth and Honesty.  Our outward shell must match our inside self.  A turtle is a turtle on the outside and the inside.  Imagine the steady peace and long lasting assurance in knowing who you are. There is no other creature who could squeeze into a turtle shell and still have peace.

I am really learning this message in Galatians.  If one is Native ( heart, thinking) on the outside, they have to be Native on the inside to find peace.  If one is white on the outside ( heart, thinking), they have to be white on the inside to find peace.  Today there are people with white hearts and thinking who minister by picking up Native practices.  Yet, they are like a Native shell on a white body.  There are also people with Native hearts and thinking who minister by picking up white practices.  They are like a white shell on a Native body.  Then there are those ( like me) who, since birth, have been like a white shell on a Native body.   There could even be others who, since birth, have been like a Native shell on a white body.  The goal is that our insides match our shell.

In whatever scenario, if you pick up the outward appearance of a person, family, tribe, group, fellowship, church or denomination, you are expected to embrace the heart and thinking of all the unseen traditions, ways, etc. It is no wonder there is such a clash and resistance to bringing contemporary mega-church ways and traditions into Native Land.   Many Believers aren't necessarily offering Christ and a circumcised healed, complete heart, as much as they are offering Christ and a circumcised 'flesh' with the whole package ( baggage) of religious law and expectations.

If your inside matches your outside there is everlasting peace, but if your outside doesn't match your inside, you are left hauling around a lot of extra baggage.