Bumper

The kids and I have this game we play while traveling in our car. We like to read people's bumper stickers and try to discuss what these people are like by looking at the things they paste on their bumper or back window. You find out lots of interesting things about people this way. Some people are green. Some people are mean. Some people like sports. Some just like short shorts. Some people love dogs. Some people hunt hogs. Some people are political. Some people are just critical. Some people like beer. Some people hunt deer. Some people eat veggies. Some people hate wedgies. Some people don't care. Some people just swear. ....I think you get the point.

The greatest part of the game is when an individual has several different bumper stickers on their car and we are able to discern a little bit more about who they truly are. When you see a lady driving a white mini-van with the bumper stickers "my kids make straight A's," "I love my church", and "God doesn't believe in atheists so they must not exist"....you can delve a little deeper into guessing her character. I would assume that this woman is a churchgoing believer who loves her family. Since she places a high value on grades and since her kids excel, I would assume that her home life is somewhat orderly and that she is active in making sure that the kids are keeping up scholastically. I would expect to see this van parked outside of a church building at least twice a month and wouldn't be surprised to see it there during mid-week activities as well. Her last bumper sticker lets me know that she probably has a little sarcasm but doesn't take herself too seriously. Probably a woman who is confident in her relationships..with God and family. Now...I never said my character analysis were accurate...I only said that this is a game that we enjoy playing.

The worst part of the game are people who have bumper stickers that do not make any sense or bumper stickers whose ideas seem to oppose one another. For instance...you can't have a bumper sticker that says "Go PETA" next to a bumper sticker that says "Beef: It's what's for dinner." That just doesn't make sense...but you'd be amazed at how many people send mixed messages with the things pasted on the back of their car. And the bumper stickers that don't make any sense at all...some random symbol or some acrostic that no one could possibly understand unless they were in some secret group that has a secret knock and a secret key....arghhhhh. WHY WOULD YOU PUT A BUMPER STICKER ON YOUR CAR THAT NO ONE UNDERSTANDS? WHAT MESSAGE IS THAT SUPPOSED TO SEND?

I don't mean to rant or go on and on about this...but it just seems frustrating that people are looking. They are looking for hope...something to believe in (Aerosmith song by the way)...truth...and we go throughout our day and throughout our lives sending mixed messages..or messages that no one understands. In one minute we say God is good but in the very next breath we blame him for something that doesn't go our way. In one minute we demand grace but in the very next we offer nothing less than justice that is swift. We speak words of kindness mixed with words of anger. We say that we are pro-God but we remain silent on the issues that defame everything that represents the greatness of our majestic King. We send messages that people don't understand. We talk Christian-ese instead of the one universal language of the world...love. We do this to protect ourselves, to hide ourselves, to become simply a bumper covered with stickers that says a lot but really nothing at all.

I challenge you to be easily read. When people read you...when people see the three to four things that you represent...not necessarily by what is written on your car, but more importantly by what is written on your heart...may they CLEARLY see God's love. May they walk away knowing that they have met a person not defined by circumstance or happenstance, but a person who puts their hope and trust into something pure, into something real. No matter what. May they see God and fear God because of the messages that you send. May you be intentional about this and may you inspire others with the hope that you profess so loudly. May you live out this love. May you represent him in such a way that the people behind you have no doubt what you are about or who you are about.......may they be able to say.....here is a person who simply knows love.

God, your God, will cut away the thick calluses on your heart and your children's hearts, freeing you to love God, your God, with your whole heart and soul and live, really live.              Deuteronomy 30:6