Honor Students and Jesus Fish
Once upon a time I was a Christian Youth Group leader. You can say what you want about me, but that was probably one of the most fulfilling and amazing volunteer positions I have ever held. Those kids are amazing and the things they taught me far surpass anything I could have possibly taught them. We had a mutual respect and they knew I would never be anything but real with them. I remember once being asked by one of the teenage girls “Is it really a sin to kiss your boyfriend?”
Sitting in the kitchen of the church with about 5-7 old biddies pretending to make coffee yet straining to hear my answer, I responded “No, I don’t think just kissing him is an issue. What the intention of your kiss is, that’s where the tougher stuff comes in to play. But really, it’s only God who knows what is really underneath, at your core.” I was informed later that was not the correct answer.
Later that year as I pulled into my new favorite place to hang out ever (Hannaford Supermarket) I saw someone looking at the back of my little red sports car. I assumed they were staring at one of my two bumper stickers. Either my Amnesty International or my Christian Ichthys one. Turned out to be the latter. Their comment to me “I’ve never seen someone with one of those Jesus fish on their cars that actually was a considerate driver.”
Wow, snap! You mean our actions can speak louder than the stickers we slap on our bumpers?
Bumper stickers have become one of our ways of “representing ourselves” to the world at large. They are like the personal branding of our drivers license responsibilities. And just because you have them on your car does not mean that that is the message you are TRULY portraying. For example, I recently drove behind a HORRIBLY inattentive and overall bad driver with one of the ever popular “My Child Is An Honor Student At…” My immediate gut check response was “Thank god your kid is smart cause YOU are obviously a bit of an idiot.”
People seem to be desperate to label themselves. To find a bumper sticker to adhere to their lives that will tell the world exactly who they are. To find others on the road that are in the same bumper sticker guild that they are. Without the use of a major adhesive remover purchased from Lowe’s or a hairdryer and straight edge to remove. And who’s to say that your bumper sticker featuring “Hello Kitty” will REALLY represent you in four years?
There’s an app on Facebook called Bumper Stickers in which people can choose little icons to “stick” to your page. I feel like these are similar. They get stuck on your profile, and though easier to remove they still represent to the world “who you are.” I used to have a huge list of them on my boxes. Whatever my friends and acquaintances wanted to “say I was” I proudly showed off. Now I just use one on my front page. The one featured above in this post.
I figure that’s a bumper sticker and message about my core being that will never get old.
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