In the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the section known as the “punitive code” there is a description of an offense which has commonly come to be known as conduct unbecoming. The UCMJ officially lists the violation as conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, and calls for court martial as its penalty. The “elements” which make up the offense as labeled by the UCMJ are as follows:

1.  That the accused did or omitted to do certain acts; and
2.  That, in the circumstances, these acts or omissions constituted conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman.

The UCMJ goes onto to define its terms:
"officer" is understood to include commissioned officers, cadets, and midshipmen, and Officer Candidates, of both sexes.  A gentleman is understood to have a duty to avoid dishonest acts, displays of indecency, lawlessness, dealing unfairly, indecorum, injustice, or acts of cruelty.

In essence, what we are talking about here is when a military officer does not act like a military officer is supposed to act. And for what else I want to say here, there is an irony to the fact that even the military throws in “both sexes” when addressing this issue.

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about what makes church work, or maybe more precisely what makes it not work.  I am not ready quite yet to call my finding conviction, but I do think it is worthy of note. Could it be that conduct unbecoming a Christian, or conduct unbecoming Christians as a whole is the problem?

We Baptists made the mainstream news again this week. Lifeway Christian Bookstores “pulled” from its selves a magazine edition that featured on its cover pictures of five women.  These now infamous cover girls weren’t nude, in fact most had the extra layer of clothes on in the form of a pastoral robe.  These women pastors haven’t done anything accept answer what they believe to be God’s call on their lives, and that is enough to get the magazine containing the article about them pulled from the shelves of the Lifeway stores.  "It is contrary to what we believe," Chris Turner, a spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention publishing house, which runs the nationwide chain, said in a story by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

I don’t want to start the “women in ministry” debate anew here. Enough have been said, people feel passionate on both sides. My issue is with how this was done. Lifeway takes the magazines “off the floor” but leaves them available by request? If it really is contrary to belief, then should it be sold in the stores at all? Jesus spoke about hypocrites about as often as He did anything or anyone else, and often, even very often, He was talking about religious people. Maybe not much has changed?

Meanwhile, I think, the world looks at we Christians, or at least one bookstore they associate with Christianity and sees conduct unbecoming.