Elie Chess

My mom comes over on her days off to babysit for us. It's a HUGE blessing for us (and I don't thank her enough...note to self...) Anyway, this morning my mom was a little early and I wasn't quite ready for work when she came so as I was getting ready to come to the office, I heard Elie say, "Let's play chess, grandma."

Now, Elie Chess is a little different from everybody else's chess. You see, the goal of Elie Chess is for Elie's king (a title that is bestowed on a bewildering array of pieces on the chess board - whichever her little hands grab first) to capture all your pieces. Since Elie Chess doesn't depend on each player having all the same color pieces, it's not easy to even know which pieces are yours. The goal of Elie Chess is for Elie to win.

So, the rules change constantly, what you are and aren't allowed to do in the game changes constantly. You don't really know even where your pieces are, let alone when and how you're allowed to move them.

Because the goal of Elie Chess is "Elie Wins."

But I was thinking as I was shaving this morning that church must seem an awful lot like Elie Chess to folks who haven't been here before. We keep moving the target, changing the rules, keeping secret what you can and can't do, what pieces are are and aren't allowed to play with, and how you use those pieces...

You come in to worship and the pastor talks about a TV show or shows a clip and you think - okay, I've got something in common with these folk. They (along with 95% of Americans) watch TV. So you start talking about last week's Desperate Housewives or Survivor and the person looks at you with contempt, "Oh, I'd NEVER watch shows like that." And that's just a simple example. Usually, they're way more hurtful than that.

We talk a big game of being welcoming and open and hope affirming - but usually that means "as long as you look, sound, talk, thing and for heaven's sake smell like I do."

And if you don't, well, we'll just play a game of Elie Chess.

Understand, I love playing Elie Chess with my four-year-old. But it gets frustrating to play it as church.