This past week I made the

journey to Wal-Mart to purchase a new swim suit. It

didn't take long to find what I was looking for and head

to the checkout area.

Wal-Mart is nearly always

crowded, of course, and dozens of people with full

shopping carts were lined up at the eight or so lanes

that were open. That day, Wal-Mart had three kinds of

checkout lanes in operation: the normal lanes for people

whose shopping carts were full, lanes for people with 20

items or less, and a lane for people who had 10 or less

items and were paying by check or cash. Having only one

item and enough cash in my pocket I naturally headed to

the third lane.

There were about six or

seven customers ahead of men in line but, to my dismay, I

realized that the three young men in front of me had a

cart that contained much more than 10 items. For some

reason, this lane was not moving along with any great

haste and I grew impatient. In fact, I began to resent

the three men with the full cart and began to silently

count the number of items in their cart.

One of the three noticed

what I was doing and whispered to another, "How many

items do you have in there?" "I dunno,"

the tallish one pushing the cart said. "Why?"

"Because this priest behind you (I was wearing my

clerical shirt) is counting how many you have in

there," the shorter one replied.

The three had a hushed

conversation and, obviously aware of the "10 Items

or Less" sign that was prominently displayed, yet

unwilling to lose their place so near the checkout lady,

devised a scheme to remain in the line with some

appearance of compliance.

The men divided the items

up among themselves and, when they arrived at the check

out line, paid for three piles of merchandise, two piles

of 10 items and one pile of 11. Of course, it took nearly

three times longer to process the merchandise this way,

since the checkout lady had to ring up three piles, bag

the items three times, and make change thrice.

But, the young men took

pride in their act, having successfully violated the

spirit of the rules, if not the letter of them. As I paid

for my one item and left the Wal-Mart, the three men were

in the parking lot, transferring all the 31 items into

one larger shopping bag. Obviously, these three felt that

the rules did not apply to them.

These men are not alone, of

course. Georgia is currently is a state of drought, with

stringent rules implemented to restrict the nonessential

use of water. Yet, if one drive through the upper crust

neighborhoods in the areas under restriction, one will

find lush, green lawns kept that way by water flowing

from hoses during the restricted hours. The home owners

obviously are also of the opinion that the rules do not

apply to them.

Yet, it is hard to fault

the three young men at Wal-Mart, or even the selfish

water-using home owners, when the standards seem to be

relative for so many.

In the past several years,

the nation has been subjected to its national leaders, of

both parties, flagrantly breaking their supposedly sacred

marriage vows, carrying on illicit affairs right in the

public eye. Motorists traveling 10 miles over the speed

limit will be passed on the interstate highways by law

enforcement officers, blasting their way at warp speed

down the roadways, leaving others standing still,

ignoring the same rules they are expected to enforce.

Even in the church, it

seems that the standards no longer apply. Touchstone

magazine recently published a survey that indicated that

the divorce rates among church members are now no

different that those among non-church goers. In fact,

among Baptists and independent churches, the divorce

rates are actually higher than those of nonbelievers.

Only among Catholics and Lutherans are divorce rates

lower. Could it be that one thing is preached and quite

another is practiced?

The Episcopal Church in the

USA (ECUSA) recently gave approval, at their

denominational convention, to so-called committed

relationships outside the bounds of marriage. ECUSA

apparently now believes that sexual activity, among both

heterosexuals or homosexuals, is now okay, as long as the

participating couples are "committed."

Of course traditional

(i.e., "orthodox") Christianity has, for 2,000

years, condemned both fornication (cohabitation without

the benefit of marriage) and homosexuality (both in

scripture and in early Church writings), but, hey, the

"times they are a-changing." Like the three

young men at Wal-Mart, the majority of Episcopal bishops

and leaders, see the rules and cleverly attempt to

repackage them, fooling no one but themselves.

Others, of course,

faithfully keep the rules for the good of all and to

maintain personal integrity. Not all politicians fool

around, not all home owners violate the water

restrictions, not all cops break the speed limit laws,

not all Baptists and independent church members get

divorced, not all Episcopal leaders are candidates for

"heretic," and not all Wal-Mart shoppers go

through the "Ten Items or Less" lanes with 31

items in their cart.

But the number of people

believing that the standards, the rules, do not apply to

them seems to be growing. And that is a cause for serious

concern. And like my father used to say, "Just

because everybody seems to be doing it, that still

doesn't make it right!"

[David Epps

is rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church

in the south metro Atlanta area. He may be contacted at [email protected] or at www.ChristTheKingCEC.com .]