I’m writing this post really late. I intended to have something written on Tuesday, but it’s now Wednesday night and I’m just posting. It’s been really busy for me, but that’s not really my excuse. I’ve gotten stuck and kinda got confused.

I suggested to those participating in Orange Week that we spend two days writing about the red side of Orange and then two days writing about the yellow side of Orange. Then as I sat down to write the other day I couldn’t think of anything to write. My brain is so stuck on Orange, I couldn’t put my finger on how we’re encouraging red. It wasn’t until this morning after reading Gina’s post yesterday about red and talking to Jonathan on the phone that it clicked. I feel that it is so important for us to define what being red looks like for a family. Because so many families don’t know what God expects of them, the church may have to define what family life is supposed to look like… and what that looks like is red… not Orange.

Red symbolizes the love of the family, the heart of the home. Red is expressed in healthy relationships between parents and their kids. It’s parents who are living out their roles as spiritual influencers for their family. Deuteronomy 6:4 is a description of red. However, something Jonathan told me today that really resonated with me. I can’t remember how he set up this statement, but he said that we need to illustrate for families what it means to be red, but taking steps toward yellow. In the same way, the church needs to be fully yellow, but taking steps toward red. Where these two movements intersect is where Orange happens.

Don’t get me wrong, in most cases the church has to do a lot more than just being yellow taking steps toward red. When parents aren’t being very red or when they’re not taking any steps toward yellow, we create Orange events or Orange programs that kind of force it to happen. I don’t think this is necessarily bad. Parents have to start somewhere, right? They’ve got to grow and develop and be equipped with the knowledge and tools to be red.

So, in addition to doing a bunch of Orange stuff, we need not forget to define for parents what it means to truly be red. Do we clearly paint the picture for them?