Let's backtrack a bit. Royals used to be the trensetters, so much so that peasants were not allowed to wear certain items or fabrics or styles. The most famous princess of the 20th century was Princess Diana. She carried herself with poise, grace an feminity that caught the attention of the world. She set a trend for cerise pink and red to be worn together. And who still remembers her "black sheep" jumper? But most importantly, her evening wear set trends for many a prom dress (matric-ball) and many a bridesmaid and bride found herself dressed in puff-sleeves and bows. Althought the Brittish royals are in the media, they have not managed to set the trends since Lady Diana.
If we go back to the beginnings of kingship, it becomes clear that what we see as Kingdoms today are nothing more than one in name, not one in power. A King was considered to be the most powerful person in a country and got to rule often by taking over territories from others. Waging war was part and parcel of their lives. In exchange for protecting their subjects and gaining land for them, they were obligated to provide him with produce of the country. Yes, admittently, this was also often abused and either the subjects rebelled or someone within the king's household usurped the throne by assassinating the king.
Because Kings were honoured by other kings, queens and rulers, they amassed treasured beyond imagination. These included clothing, spices, gold, silver, pearls and precious stones. The clothing was of the finest linen, with gold thread woven into the fabric or dyed with purple (indigo). Marriages were entered into to seal a deal with a rival or ally. Certainly seldom were they for love. What a different picture we see in the upcoming wedding.
So, what does this have to do with this blog. Many of you will already know where I am heading, so here goes.....
If we, as Christians are considered royalty, what trends are we supposed to set, and what do our weddings look like? Are we focussed on worldy rends or do we advocate something else? Are our weddings about brides, dresses and food or are they about something bigger?
Please understand me correctly. I am not saying that we cannot buy luxurious clothing or splurge on certain items from time to time. It depends obviously on your stewadship and what motivation you have in spending lots of money. Is the motivation to be different, to be sexy, to be attractive or are there other reasons? Are we drawn by the advertising of a particular brand? Ultimately we need to ask ourselves if these things affect our relationship with Jesus and whether we are still behaving like a royal family.
Weddings are supposed to be about the union between a man and a woman, who make a promise before God to live a certain way. Yes, there is a dress, there's a bride and of course there is a celebration, but these are not the most important. We celebrate these things, because they point to another relationship and an upcoming wedding which will outshine the one in April a millionfold. We will be the bride and HE the bridegroom and there will be a dress of white, fine linen and there will be a celebration so magnificent that we cannot imagine it right now.
