We were running DVDs at the office. 1000 of them. We were going to pass them out on Sunday. It’s a project that had lots of people helping, including some high school interns.
I was talking to the interns. One said, “I even put a bunch in the cases. The way you like them.” I didn’t know there was a way that I like DVDs to go into the case.
Well, I’ll be honest. I do know that there is a way. I like the recipient to be able to open the cover and see the label on the DVD turned so that it can be read.
What I didn’t know is that other people knew. That a high school student had been trained by a staff member in “the way Jon likes it.”
When I told the story to my friend Kim, not knowing that I had a way for disks, she said, “But it is the way you like it. Right?”
She’s right.
What’s scary to me is how easy it is for rules to be created and propagated without knowing for sure why the rule exists. I’m not blaming anyone for this DVD case religion of Jon. I’m blaming myself. I don’t want the rules to be “because Jon like it that way.” I want the disks to be turned because it looks good when someone opens the case OR I want someone to say, “It doesn’t really matter.”
And it doesn’t really matter.
Some religious leaders were complaining to Jesus one day that his disciples weren’t washing their hands in the ceremonial way. Jesus said, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”
The command of God is to love each other, not stress about DVD labels.
300 words a day 
Marc A. Pitman (@marcapitman)
SO TRUE!
In the Vineyard, we often pray for healing for people. But if you watch us, we often don’t actually lay hands on the person. We lay them about an inch or so away.
Turns out, this is just custom. Back in the day in Southern California, the school gym that John Wimber used for the church sanctuary didn’t have A/C. So to avoid people’s sweat, hands were laid near rather than on!
30 years later, people already think “That just how we have to do it.”
It’s really helpful to be able to laugh at ourselves!
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Jon Swanson
the funny thing, Marc, is that there may still be value in that distance, though for different reasons. It’s a reminder to review the why’s on occasion, even if the result is to say, “That’s a good thing, but here’s the reason.” A great example. Thanks!
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Matches Malone
You have a ministry that numbers a thousand? Wow. Can I get you to run off a thousand DVDs of Blue Blazes Special Edition and sell them to your congregation at $10 apiece, to finance my next 168 Project film? 🙂 Thanks!!!
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