Pulling into a church parking lot, I often find myself groaning at the bold, brazen, and boisterous declarations people make on the back of their cars.
There’s always the classic, “My child is an honor student” and the retort, “Your honor student sells bumper stickers!”
But I’m amazed when Christians really get into it. Like the Jesus fish stomping Darwin. Or the “God is not a Democrat” and “God is not a Republican” that gain popularity every four years. Or a church in Denver whose bumper stickers read, “My church can kick your church’s a-!”
Why do churchgoers place hard-to-peel-off statements on the back of their vehicles?
Because Christians love to talk smack!
Now there are a few arguably good reasons to talk smack if you’re a Christian:
1. Christian smack comes from knowing we have the biggest, baddest daddy around. Our daddy slings comets, paints the skies, and flips the switch to the best light shows in the universe. Our daddy made it all, owns it all, infuses it all, and holds it all together. Smackety, smack, take that.
2. Christian smack comes from knowing we’re on the winning team. Reading the Bible is a lot like Tivo—you can fast forward and see who wins. You can surf through scenes of the winners, the overcomers, and even catch glimpses of the rockin’ after-party. Knowing the victor before the game perpetuates a lot of smack talk.
The problem is, whenever we start using Christian smack, it’s usually not too long until someone calls us on it.
That’s right. We have to back up our smack or take the flack.
This isn’t new. An Old Testament prophet, Ezra, loved to talk prophetic smack about God. He boldly proclaimed, “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him” (Ezra 8:22)
Boom. Bam. Slam.
The only problem was that, soon after He made this God-smack declaration, Ezra had to go on a dangerous journey. And because of his smack, he couldn’t ask the king for troops or protection.Ezra had to make the treacherous trip the old-fashioned way—by trusting God. He prayed, fasted, and begged God to back up His smack-talk.
Ezra was wonderstruck by the results. And the rest is Biblical history. (See Ezra 8:21-32)
So it’s okay to talk God-smack, but you better be ready to live it. Take that, yo.
When does Christian smack get the best of you or someone you know?
