The world runs on stereotypes. We expect people to fit into certain boxes and shape our society around those boxes. Those that don’t fit, well, we just let them fall through the cracks. They don’t count, they aren’t normal, if they want to make it they should start acting just like everyone else. The problem is – more and more people are falling through the cracks and systems, flawed to begin with, are falling apart.
I was reminded of how our world is changing as I recently followed the saga of a local Chicago area 1st grader who was barred from attending school for nearly two months. This boy officially lives with his mom in the Homewood school district, but stays with his dad in a different district some nights (and occasionally with his grandmother as well). His parents are divorced and both work so-called “non-traditional” jobs (as in their hours aren’t 8-5). But in a school system that’s strapped for cash, the boy doesn’t spend enough nights at one house to quality for residency and so was barred from attending school. It took the state governor reading about the boy’s story in the newspaper for him to intervene and demand that the boy be allowed to attend school. (read more here and here). The boy and his family didn’t fit the mold and so he was allowed to fall through the cracks (thankfully the press can still do some good). But the thing is, his story is becoming more and more common these days. The world is changing.
I can’t help but think about how the church is responding to these changes. Are we making room for “nontraditional” families and schedules? Or do we just complain about divorce rates, the stability of the family, women working outside the home, and the taxes we pay to the schools to deal with people “like this”? Nurses, and artists, and traveling jobs are more the norm these days than ever. What was once considered “typical” barely exists anymore. The stereotypes and molds have crumbled, so why does the church pretend that nothings changed? A few years ago I was at a church that started a Saturday night service. This allowed a few families with “nontraditional” schedules (who had to work Sundays) to attend church. But there were others in the church who opposed the service saying the only reason people would come to church on Saturday night was because they were too lazy to get up on Sunday mornings.
Divorce is a reality, alternative families are a reality, and nontraditional schedules are a reality across every economic level these days. If all the church does is complain about it and try to make it stop, all that will happen is for the church to make itself obsolete. Refusing to accept the realities of this world in favor of some nostalgic stereotype of the world as we wish it would be doesn’t seem like a smart way to serve our communities. The church needn’t be a system that falls apart as culture evolves, but it does need to learn to adapt and stop rejecting change for the sake of rejecting change. Perhaps that means emerging, perhaps that means just opening its eyes to the community it serves. As a church leader I know I personally find it difficult to even know where to begin sometimes, but for the sake of the community I serve I at least want to try.
I was noticing this strange habit to shield children from death and violence the other day as I was watching Veggie Tales with Emma. Now I’ve been a fan of Veggie Tales for years (I did live in Wheaton during it’s heyday). On Friday nights when we weren’t studying, my friends and I would get together to watch Veggie Tale videos (aren’t you wishing you went to a Christian college too…). Anyway, what I noticed recently was the transformation over the years of the costumes for the Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything. In the original silly song by that name, Pa Grape sports a pirate hat complete with traditional skull and crossbones. 
But by the time those Pirates host the Silly Song countdown, the skull and crossbones have been replaced by a smiley face with an eyepatch (both can be observed in the video