Appropriate

What is that word, appropriate? The word means "suitable or fitting for a particular purpose, person, occasion, etc." (unless, of course, you're using the verb form, in which case it refers to taking something). It is a form of "propriety" with the same idea of conforming to the standards suitable to the circumstances.

We know this word. It's not hard. We know that it's not appropriate to share a secret someone told you with someone you weren't supposed to share it with. It's not illegal; it's inappropriate. You don't laugh at a funeral. It's not immoral; it's inappropriate. Wearing shorts to the prom would not likely be deemed appropriate, not because shorts are evil, but because there is appropriate wear for appropriate events and shorts are not for the prom. We know this ... right?

I fear we've lost a large sense of the appropriate. Perhaps it's part of the decline of what used to be "common sense" but isn't so common anymore. How appropriate was it, for instance, for France to send a homosexual as ambassador to the Vatican? I'm not saying that homosexual is wrong--not the point. I'm talking about appropriate. Like sending the pastor's wife to the men's retreat. Not appropriate.

My wife started to watch one of those "renovate your house for you" shows the other day. The renovator who was the main character appeared to have a severe lack of vocabulary because there wasn't a single sentence, it seemed, that didn't have bleeped words in it. Now, I'm not saying he shouldn't be swearing. I'm simply suggesting that the guy in front of the camera should understand that the kind of language he uses should be appropriate to the situation ... and that was not.

Recently there was a story in the news where this fellow left his vehicle running at a gas station to run in to buy something. The car, of course, was stolen. Worse, his baby was in the car. Well, they found the car a short time later with the baby inside and everyone was safe though they were still looking for the thief. The reporter interviewed the mother of the recovered child. There she was, delighted that her baby was home again, hugging him close, and telling the world, "I don't give a **** about the car; this was all I cared about." Well, okay, we get it, but how appropriate was it to talk like that for the 6 o'clock news to hear and around the child?

Driving, walking, shopping, even going to church, it seems as if "appropriate" doesn't exist much anymore. So maybe Paul's words might be lost on us when he told King Agrippa that he "kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance." (Acts 26:20) What exactly is "deeds appropriate to repentance"? There are those who will tell you there is no such thing. "We're saved by faith, not by works. 'Deeds appropriate to repentance' don't exist." There are others who would assure us that it's backwards. "Deeds make repentance appropriate. Until you do sufficient good deeds, repentance won't avail you much." But it's a biblical concept. They are the works James spoke about that justify faith (James 2:15-26). It is walking in a manner worthy of your calling (Eph 4:1ff).

In our society, so well engulfed in self-gratification and so well blinded by the god of this world, "appropriate" is quickly losing its meaning. We still have to remember that we are to perform deeds appropriate to repentance. We need to demonstrate the new life we claim to have, the new heart we claim to have received. Do you?