One of the modern tendencies of Americans is to try to be clever in little sayings. We have a "bumper sticker" mentality. We think that we can be deep or clever or sophisticated in little sayings.

When Christians try this, it usually turns out to be a mistake. I saw a church sign the other day (the "big building" equivalent of a bumper sticker) with the following sign:
       
                     Will You Trade Your Dreams For His

This is a great example of how really bad these things can be. How? Well, think about how wrong this is (in addition to missing the question mark). After all, God does not have dreams.

The slogan suggests that we have "dreams" and He has "dreams" and that we should trade our "dreams" for His "dreams." But God does not dream or have dreams. 

As to its primary meaning, dreams are visions during sleep. God does not sleep, so He does not dream.

So, the pastor must mean something else. He does not actually mean dreams in the real sense of the term, but in some other sense. It appears he means "dream" in the sense of "something hoped for," as when a man says he always "dreamed" of being a great athlete.

Still, God does not dream in this sense either. He does not have "dreams" about what "might be," He has a will about what will be and absolute knowledge of what will be. He knows all things. He knows what you will be and who you will be and what will happen to you. All that He wills comes about. 

    Remember this and stand firm,
         recall it to mind, you transgressors,
    remember the former things of old;
    for I am God, and there is no other;
        I am God, and there is none like me,
    declaring the end from the beginning
        and from ancient times things not yet done,
    saying,  ‘My counsel shall stand,
        and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
    calling a bird of prey from the east,
        the man of my counsel from a far country.
      I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
        I have purposed, and I will do it.

Isa. 46:8-11. This is our God. He declares the end from the beginning. His counsel will stand. He will accomplish all His purpose. He has spoken and He will bring it to pass. He has purposed and He will do it.

The sign is a bad sign because it reduces God to being like us. It suggests that He has dreams and that His dreams, in some odd way, are dependent upon us. It suggests that He is like us, puzzled about the world, wondering about what will come to pass, disappointed in His dreams.

Why would this sign make me want to visit this pastor's church? Do I want to hear a sermon about a God with dreams, a God who cannot accomplish His will, a God who is weak like me? Do I want to hear about dreams, when I can go elsewhere and hear the truth of God?

Would I trade my dreams for His? It is like asking if I would trade my car for His car or my dog for His dog. God has no car, no dog, and no dreams.

My God is not a dreamer. My God is God. I do not need to trade dreams with Him, I need to obey Him.

Have you ever had that moment when someone does something and you say to yourself "what are they doing?" I have. In fact, I have it every day.

Why is that person trying to turn left against the traffic and the road markings in order to get into the McDonald's drivethru from the wrong side? To do this, she has to stop all the traffic behind her (which piles up into a major road) or turn in front of the traffic in front of her (leaving the shopping center) and make a very difficult turn. But drivers do this all the time to gain the 10 seconds it would take to go the right way. What are they doing?

Why won't that person move when the light turns green? They have sat there for at least 20 seconds of the light, doing nothing. We waited for the light, now they won't go. What are they doing?

Why does that person pull up past the "stop line" in the turn lane, so that he does not get a turn signal? He sat there through two lights and is probably cussing out the traffic light for not giving him a signal when it does not even know he is there. What is he doing?

Why are the candidates all standing there looking like schoolchildren being lectured by "journalists" about stupid subjects that make no difference? Why don't they just tell everyone that the subjects make no difference and move on? Why don't they invite someone who can ask real questions? What are they doing?

Life is filled with people doing things we do not understand. Usually, these are things that annoy us. The lady in line at the grocery store who waits until all her groceries are scanned before she pulls out her checkbook. Checkbook? Who still uses a checkbook anyway? What is she doing? Why am I in this line?

Last week, I got into the shortest line at a grocery store. There was one person ahead of me. Every other line had two or three people. Then, the person's "shopping partner" came up. They they divided their basket into two orders. Then they argued over what went in which order. By the time I got up to the checker, every other line was empty. What were they doing?

It seems like there are slow, clumsy, careless, forgetful, annoying people everywhere I go.

Hmmm. Maybe the problem is me. Maybe the people turning at the McDonald's just think this is how to do it. It seems to be so common among people that I cannot believe they are all crazy. Maybe the driver who won't go at the green light doesn't know it is green. Maybe he or she is dealing with a crying child or looking at a map. Maybe the guy at the turn lane doesn't know what a sensor is or doesn't see it. Maybe the candidates are doing this nonsense because they have no real choice. Maybe the lady with the checkbook uses it to keep her money straight. Maybe the two ladies were shopping together because they are good friends or because one is the elderly mother of the other. Maybe they were arguing over the order because the checker did it wrong or because one was trying to buy something for the other.

Maybe they were all doing things that I also sometimes do.

Like getting upset at little things.

In our First Sunday discussion this week (soon to be posted), we got into the question of tattoos. This is not only an interesting technical question (does Lev. 19:28 apply to Christians as moral law today?), it also presents a real practical question. How do we deal with people who have tattoos?

In particular, I think we can create two easy divisions. First, we have people who have chosen to be tattooed while in Christ and without thinking they have done anything bad. Second, we have people who received tattoos before they became Christians or after becoming Christians but before maturing, who are now repentant about and bothered by the tattooing. Ultimately, we have Christians who are sorry about being tattooed and Christians who are not sorry about being tattooed.

There are also, of course, many unbelievers who are tattooed, but who cares? If they are unbelievers, then it would be foolish indeed for us to be concerned about skin decorations when they are unsaved.

So, let's stick with our two categories:  repentant and unrepentant. Those who believe they did something wrong and those who do not think they did anything wrong.

As to the repentant group, the answer is really simple. We accept them without reservation. They have lived their lives in sin, but, then, so have we. They have made decisions that marked them for life (in tattoos), while our decisions marked us for life as well. I have scars from bicycle wrecks as a child, but no one judges me foolish for having such scars. People have scars from surgeries, but no one judges them for those scars. Tattoos are no different. When a brother or sister in Christ has repented of their sinful lifestyle, I do not then reject them from my brotherhood because of scars from that lifestyle. If we do so, then we are announcing that Christ is sufficient for all things except tattoos, which is nonsense.

As to the unrepentant group, we have to ask whether there is any grounds for repentance at all. Unless we believe that the entirety of the OT law is carried over to the New Covenant (including rules about shirt fibers and such), then we have no basis for condemning a person who chooses a tattoo on the basis of Lev. 19:28. An OT Jew could not be tattooed. Fine. He also could not shave his beard, but most Christians in America today shave their beards off entirely without any sense of guilt at all. Am I to make Lev. 19:28 to be eternal but Lev. 19:27 to be temporary? That makes no sense.

Of course, we find other things on which to base our claims. We will point to the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, a certain truth, but not directly relevant. I am uncertain how that truth applies to tattoos. It does not seem to apply to eating (so many of us are overweight) or exercise (we are not great exercisers) or anything else to do with the body. I am not sure why it would have to do with tattoos.

So, as to the unrepentant group, our duty is to accept them as well. This is a classic Romans 14 issue, isn't it? Some feel it is sinful to have tattoos of any kind. Some think it is okay to have them. Our response, given the lack of law on the issue in scripture, is to accept all brothers and sisters in Christ. The burden they have taken with the step (the practical and spiritual burdens) are theirs.

Now, as to my children, this means two things. First, they will not receive tattoos while in my house (I will not allow minor children to make permanently disfiguring decisions). If anyone tattoos a minor child who lives in my home, we will have a visit with the police. 

Second, once they leave, they have left. They can receive tattoos if they choose to do so (and pay for them). I am not going to spend my time worrying about such things. There are plenty of much more important things going on in their lives and in the world.

So, I do not find tattooing to be a very interesting topic. I do not share the desire to make my body a canvas for my temporary ideas of beauty nor any sense that marking myself up makes me better or happier or more useful. I also do not find myself outraged that other people feel this way.

Ultimately, it is just ink on skin. Why should it be a big issue to me?

One of the interesting things about employment law (my profession) is the attitudes that you have to deal with. It is amazing how many things there are in people's heads.

People think (and often say) the most amazing things. They believe that they have some special insight into truth, perhaps, or that their education is somehow more important than their intelligence. People who are educated (lawyers, doctors, etc.) will often give very little credit to people who do their work. They have the idea that their secretary or assistant is "not as bright" as they are.

Women have dealt with these things for years, with men who work in the world assuming that they are "smarter" than their wives who stay at home. It is certainly possible that they are smarter, but it is not at all a logical conclusion and cannot possibly be true in all cases. In any given situation, there is no reason to assume that the husband is either smarter or brighter than his wife.

As an attorney, I deal with a lot of attorneys, who have all passed law school and bar exams, but they are not necessarily the sharpest knives in the drawer. The skill it takes to pass law school and a bar exam may not include being very quick on the uptake or wise in dealing with people.

The reality of our lives is that our intelligence or "brightness" is almost entirely separate from our experience and education. We are not justified in thinking that someone in a "lesser" job is therefore not as bright as we are, because they may be much brighter. 

The best legal secretary I ever had was an interesting person. She was a secretary (so a natural object of scorn by foolish attorneys). She was a member of an odd religious cult. She kept crystals on her desk to which she talked. She dressed in a very unimpressive manner. She seemed like a flake. 

But, she was brilliant. She had been a science student at an Ivy League college when she was young. She left college because she fell in love with a man and moved away as his wife. No one knew that who just saw a legal secretary.

You are who you are because of what has happened to you. It is not because you are brilliant or because you are not brilliant. Your success is not proof of your greatness and the people who work for you are not your inferiors, as you may think, except in position. They may know more than you think.

Take some time this week to think about and care about the people with whom you work. They are where God has placed them for His reasons. They may be a lot smarter, a lot brighter, and a lot more interesting than you think they are. 

Loving your neighbor, after all, includes loving the neighbor who works for you. Do not sin against them by assuming they are less than they are.

One of my indelible memories of childhood (or teenagerhood, at least) is a conversation with my father about tennis racquets. I wanted some expensive racquet and, it seemed to me, that he did not understand how important this was to me at all. Actually, it was typical youthful nonsense and I did not need the racquet.

Still, racquets do matter, we are told. Non-tennis players think this foolish, but we tennis guys "demo" racquets and will pay a lot of money for a racquet. People become obsessed with some new racquet and can't wait to get one, thinking it will make them a great tennis player. Golfers are the same with new drivers, new irons, and new putters. The reality is that we are who we are and there is no club that hits a shank any better than our old one does. 

Anyway, I was playing tennis last night and broke a string on my racquet, with the result that I had to use an old racquet with which I have not played in 14 months or so. It was amazing how different everything was with the old racquet. Every hit felt different, because it had different strings and was strung at a different pressure and weighed less than my current racquet. I could serve really well and volley okay, but my groundstrokes were terrible.

I have played tennis since high school. You would think that "any racquet" would be good enough, but, in fact, every racquet is different. Even such a little change makes a big difference in the experience.

I think we need to keep this in mind when we make changes in any area of life, but especially in churches. Every change that you see as small (as my father saw the racquet issue) is actually much bigger than you think it is. Changing from one set of songs to another or from one "room arrangement" to another seems small to you, but it may seem big to someone else. Just a little thing can make such a big difference in the experience.

As teachers and as preachers and as brothers and sisters in Christ, we must be aware of how big a difference even little things can make in the lives of those we love. And, of course, as Christ instructed us, we love them all.

Don't we?

Well, yesterday was Valentine's Day, the day on which men spend money on their women. Today is Half Price Chocolate Day, when women spend money on themselves. Strange, isn't it? Too bad that Brach's Conversation Hearts never seem to go on sale.

Anyway, now we have kind of a strange interlude for businesses. Since July, when they started Back To School Days, we have gone in sequence from Back to School to Halloween to Thanksgiving (which is Black Friday stuff) to Christmas to Valentine's Day. Now, they have nothing big until Easter, which is two months away. We will see Easter stuff right away (I have already seen some), but there is no real pressure for awhile.

We move from season to season in the same way that farmers used to do, except that our seasons are make-believe and theirs were real. Marketers drive our seasons just as the sun drove their seasons. Everything works around the calendar for both us and them. Such is life.

But, it does get old, doesn't it? Sometimes, you sit down and think about how much time has passed over the years. Another Christmas is here, we say, just like the old ones, but it is really very different. A new Easter is coming, an old Valentine's Day has passed, and we just go along.

Such is God's will for our lives. We live one day at a time, no matter what we think we are doing. The grocery store will put up its Easter stuff today (in all probability), right next to the half-off Valentine's Day shelves. Someone will complain about "creep" of the holidays. But, really, it does not matter.

What I mean is that I have to live today. Easter and Christmas and Halloween and birthdays and anniversaries and planting days and harvest moons are not at the heart of my life. If I lived a year in a place with none of those things, my life would not be significantly affected. Men created all these things. But God gave me a life.

My wife, my children, my job, my church, my friends, do not rely on these things at all. They are the things God has given me to care about.

As for "holiday creep," I say "fine." It means I can buy Conversation Hearts more often (which I like) and it helps business, so why do I care that Easter is two months away? Malted Milk Easter Eggs are available. They are not Conversation Hearts, but the white colored ones are pretty good.

If you have been paying attention (or if you have these things e-mailed to you), you know that the website had a bit of a fit this week. First, it created a whole series of blank blog posts. Then, it sent an e-mail with several old blog posts. Since then, I have been off-line.

Part of it is trying to figure out what happened. Another part is trying to avoid it again. Trouble is, these are computers, and it is hard to figure out how to avoid it. When something goes wrong, the natural tendency is to back off and do nothing, because that way you avoid the hassle. I have also started working in a new firm, which makes my days a bit more interesting and filled. So, nothing for a few days.

This is how we are, isn't it? Most of us do not like to mess things up and we do not like for things to mess us up. Our status quo is what we want. We want things to be simple and reliable and easy to use. We do not want things to be complicated or untrustworthy.

So, let's think a minute about this, from a different perspective. Stop thinking about this from your side (about stuff you use) and think about it from the other side, from the side of people who rely on you. When we are the person relied upon, and we fail (as we all sometimes fail), we have a very different view. From the "we failed" side we immediately look for forgiveness and (usually) forgetfulness. We want people to "understand" what happened and, if possible, to decide it wasn't our fault.

I hate that the website freaked out. But when I freak out, when I fail, I want everyone to forgive me right away. As a teacher, sometimes I say things badly or even say bad things (two very different things). I want people to understand and accept that I, too, fail. I do not want them to be angry with me or resentful. I do not want them to step aside from me and never trust me again.

When you fail, how do you react? I have seen so many people react as if they were the one with a grievance. You know what I mean. You make a mistake and, when someone calls you on it, you react as if they were the problem. You tell them about all the things you have done right and about how you did not get much sleep last night and, too often, about how unfair they are being because they are angry with you for being wrong. Finally, and worst of all, you may start telling them about how wrong they have been in the past.

So, I will say this about the whole website fiasco. It never told me it was right. It never responded to me by claiming that I should be more understanding or demanding that I somehow recognize how great it has always been. It did not remind me of the times I have messed up. It just went back to working.

I wish I were more like the website in that sense. I wish that I accepted my errors and just went back to work, not trying to deny them or justify them or use them as an excuse to hurt other people.

Made any mistakes lately?