The summer air was thick, heavy, and hot. I had sweat running down places I don’t like having sweat. The air was still and stifling and we were spending a morning at a state park in our area. The boys were attempting the rock climbing wall while I entertained my three-year old daughter while we watched the climbing attempts.
The heat had the three year old in rare form and the exclusion from rock climbing took her “attitude” to a new level. She began to pout – that silent, stewing sort of pout that a child does when they feel wounded by the world and want you to notice. I tried to inquire as to what was wrong, but was initially met with a stoney, stubborn silence. She finally thawed a bit and with arms tightly crossed she mumbled to me, “That sign hurts my feelings.”
Baffled, I looked around and only saw a safety sign dangling on the ropes in place to keep us from getting too close to the climbing space. So, I took the bait and asked what hurt her feelings about the sign. The response was still stone cold. “That sign is mean, mommy.”
I pried a little further and the illiterate, stubborn (albeit adorable) female child finally cracked. She began to cry and loudly proclaimed, “That sign says, ‘NO GIRLS ALLOWED!'”
Insert my stunned, confused, and more than moderately amused self. She couldn’t have “misread” the sign any more than if she actually COULD read and literally misread the sign. More on that in a minute.
I was thinking about this episode recently, fondly remembering that stubborn little thing who is now growing into a lovely, school-loving, and occasionally still stubborn young lady. As I laughed at what had “offended” her, I wondered to myself how often I misread situations or get myself worked up over the wrong thing. Do I get offended over what actually offends God or am I only bothered by the things that inconvenience me or make me feel uncomfortable?
In Jeremiah 7, Jeremiah reminds the children of Judah what to do to align their lives to the priorities of God ~ essentially giving them a list of what they were doing that offended God.
“For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice with one another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.” ~Jeremiah 7:5-7 (emphasis mine)
When do I see injustice and let it go? How do I oppress (or ignore…or turn a blind eye to the mistreatment of) the sojourner (ahem….those not from where I live), those whose families may not look like my own, or the innocent harmed in significant ways? Do I acknowledge the ways that I – and others in my communities – priorities things, people, or traditions over God?
Jeremiah makes it clear that when I disregard these things – or actively engage in them – I am in direct opposition to God. We can also see this list as the things that the children of Judah where engaged in that directly offended and impacted their relationship with God. And, I’d imagine that falling into the habit of offending God didn’t happen overnight or in an instant. No, like most things like this in life, I bet it started slowly. They began to turn a blind eye to seemingly minor instances when justice was not served. And then they began to treat others badly, prioritizing their own comfort over helping those in need. And then it grew into murder and direct harm.
Where am I on that slow slide? Do I run the risk of waking up one day and realizing that I am in direct opposition to God? While I pray that would never happen, I can’t lose sight of the fact that over generations this very phenomenon played out with the children of Israel and Judah. They fell so far they were taken into captivity by the Babylonians as discipline from God.
Staying vigilant to even getting on that slide is what we in Christian community must do individually and collectively. And this list from Jeremiah makes it clear to me where to have my radar up to watch out for pitfalls. Justice in my spheres of influence. Taking care of those around me who are less fortunate or who have experienced the raw edges of life. And not letting anything out-prioritize God in my life. When I see that happening, I pray that I would be offended – by myself or by others. And that God would give me the self-discipline to recognize and change my own behavior; or the courage to speak up and lovingly stand for those around me who may need a supportive advocate and friend. I pray I would not be distracted by the inconvenient or annoying things in life and that I would remain focused on what really should bother me in order to grow in relationship with God and to make him known.
So, back to the kid offended by a safety sign? See below for what was so offensive to a blooming feminist a bit misguided at the time.
