Dazzling Stripes
In World War One, they had a very serious problem…the German submarine. Known as U-boats, they patrolled the Atlantic, stalking British commerce and torpedoing more than 5,700 ships. The worst part was, no one was quite sure how to stop them. You see, common military doctrine said noncombatants are best preserved by keeping them away from the fight and out of the enemy’s attention. If they had to be near the fighting they had to be heavily camouflaged. But that doesn’t work on the ocean. A giant tanker or cargo ship can’t hide, especially when it left a trail of smoke billowing from its stacks.
It was a problem. And it potentially could have cost them the war.
A Royal Navy volunteer reserve lieutenant named Norman Wilkinson, who was by trade a painter, graphic designer and newspaper illustrator in his civilian life, came up with a radical and truly bizarre solution: Instead of trying to hide ships, make them stand out. Make them dazzle. He covered the ships in stripes, shapes, right angles and swirls. Black and white bold patterns filled the sides from stem to stern, port and starboard. The images were designed to confuse and cause mistakes from the German U-boat Captain gazing through a periscope, trying to judge speed and distance so they could do the complex math required to make a torpedo and a ship occupy the same space in the midst of a vast ocean. The paint made it hard to tell which end of the ship was which, how long the ship was, and even made gauging its heading hard. It worked.
The idea seems crazy doesn’t it? The designs are even crazier. Most of the images are under copyright, but a quick google search of Dazzle Camouflage reveals dozens of pictures you can look at.
So what does this do with Christianity?
It is easy to see how the average person can go through their life just trying to blend in. As a pastor and a consumer of social media, it seems to me we fall into one of two camps:
1. We try our best to fly under the radar, content to exist in a “you be you, I’ll be me” attitude.
2. We see ourselves as God’s bullhorn, loudly declaring what is moral and right, and proudly pointing to the sin of this world.
Now I will admit, I’m just a man and I have my own leanings, so the truth is probably in between these two for most, but would you be intrigued if I told you I believe there is a third, a better, option we are called to?
Dazzle them. Stand out. Do the unexpected! And in this age of anger, and soundbite, and post trolling, of live and let live, of “mind your own business” what could possibly stand out more than love, kindness and civility? Debate instead of argument….even when the other side wants to argue! You see there is a great parallel here.
- The ships where painted with broad stripes for the purpose of standing out and a desire to save them
- God came down among us as Christ, for the purpose of standing out and he allowed us to put stripes on Him. All of this was out of a desire to save us.
- God has now marked us with His stripes, called us to stand out, and sent us into the world.
If you are going to follow Christ, you actions, beliefs and habits are going to make you stand out. You can’t change that. But you can control the attitude by which do these. Even in this angry world you can be the calm voice…speaking the truth…in love…to a world busy shouting at each other.
Will it be easy, not at all.
Can it make an eternal difference?
Through the power of the Holy Spirit most certainly.
My friends these are not easy times, and our first impulse will always be to leap to God’s defense or to blend into the background. Perhaps we should look at what God says in Romans 12:2:, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
And realizing we can’t conform, let’s go full on bizzare
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? – Matthew 5:43-48 (ESV)
Finally brothers and sisters consider the words of 1 Peter 3:15-18:
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit
Bizarre and Bold my friends, Bizarre and Bold
-Pastor Dan