Parents, What are we bragging about? I was in the middle school neighborhood bicycle gang. I use the term gang loosely, maybe more like a gaggle i.e. “a disorderly or noisy group of people”, rather than “a flock of geese”… although we may or may not have sounded like a honking flock of them after the beanie weenie lunch in the school cafeteria, as we rode our bikes through the Lakemoore Hills ‘hood. We were more noisy than disorderly. Anyway, back to my story... in the glory days of daredevil entertainer, Evel Knievel, almost every kid in our neighborhood built a makeshift ramp out of the wood they found in the garage and practiced going up and over it on their “motorcycle”/actually a bike. Mine was a few 2X4’s leaned on a fat log of wood. It was more like a bump than a ramp, but that’s where my imagination took over… I was flying hundreds of feet over a fleet of buses. As we rode home the bus one day, (We rode with the highschoolers. The bus was otherwise known as the feel free to bully a middle schooler zone - it was like the place where no one had jurisdiction: no teachers, no police, no parents, and the driver was just trying to dodge the crazy kids driving themselves home. So, it was like the Wild West, where only the strong survive. But once again I digress). On the bus, one of our gaggle kids was bragging about the 5 foot bike ramp, he had built at the end of his street. We all knew his street… he was at the end of a cul de sac at the bottom of a giant hill, a perfect place to build up speed to launch us into the air. So, guess where we all rode our bikes after getting off the bus? Mom said, “Don’t you have homework?” Homework schmomework, I thought, I’m going to be the next Evel Knievel, besides I was in an ‘open classroom,’ and the teacher didn’t even know my name. So, I told my mom I would be back in time to do it. We pedaled up and down the hills on our bikes to finally reach the epic ramp. As I arrived, the guys all stood around it with wide anxious eyes and braggadocious words. But when it came down to who would go first, we all balked… until finally one of us said, “I’ll go first.” That kid went and pedaled about halfway up the hill, came back and hit the ramp and landed safely. “Cool,” we said. A few other kids went. By the way, this was back when helmets were not even available, so protection of our soft-topped middle school skulls were even further compromised by our hardheaded competitive spirits. Then it was my turn. I pedaled back up the hill further than the other kids (go big or go home right?”)... I turned around and gained speed for the ramp. The ramp building engineer kid had thoughtfully placed the ramp at the end of the pavement so that the landing was on soft grass. So, I thought if I crash, I’ll at least land on the grass. As I became airborne, the extra speed launched me further than I anticipated, and I landed harder on the grass too. What the ramp engineer kid had not considered was the stopping space needed to decelerate the rider and bike before crashing into the bushes IF the rider gets a little extra speed for the jump… the other kids’ half-way-up-the-street prelaunch ride had given them enough room to easily stop, before hitting said bushes. Thankfully, the bushes acted as sort of a safety net to stop me from continuing down the hill, off the cliff, and into the river. When I emerged from the bushes, ``wow's'' and “are you okays” came from the gaggle. I just knew I had won gaggle bragging rights with that attempt. It smarted a little, but not enough for me to show it. However, not to be out done, another kid, Frank, went further up the hill and he was on a 10 speed!… The rest of us were on Spyder bike knockoffs. We couldn’t believe he would try it on a 10 speed. He landed it and stopped with only hand brakes. He earned the coveted “Evel Kneivel of the Day” award hands down. He later admitted his bravery came from trying to earn the eye and admiration of Laurie, the girl who lived on the same cul de sac. As the Sun went down, making shadow art on the street, as it shown through the deciduous and pine canopy, we all rode back home trying to figure out how to go just a little bit faster and further without crashing into the bushes the next day. Wisely, the ramp engineer’s parents disassembled the gaggle launcher, much to our chagrin. But it wasn’t long until we were off to the next adventure… playing full on tackle football with no pads or helmets so we could brag about our athletic skills… how did we survive? What is it they say about God protecting children and fools?
Why is it that we like “bragging rights"? It’s not just noisy middle schoolers. Some of us somehow feel “less than” everyone else and feel compelled to brag about whatever it is we think we are good at… it only gets us in a predicament where we are headed for trouble. At a time when God was tired of His people’s perceived “right to brag” about how smart they were, what they could do, and how successful they were, He sent His messenger, known as the “Weeping Prophet” to warn them (and us) not to brag about anything but God and His great Love, Rightness and Justness. In the helpful and creatively paraphrased words of Eugene Peterson, Jeremiah communicates God’s warning like this, “GOD's Message: ‘Don't let the wise brag of their wisdom. Don't let heroes brag of their exploits. Don't let the rich brag of their riches. If you brag, brag of this and this only: That you understand and know me. I'm GOD, and I act in loyal love. I do what's right and set things right and fair, and delight in those who do the same things. These are my trademarks.’ GOD's Decree.” Jeremiah 9:23-24 (MSG) So, as we connect our lives with our loving, right, and fair God we will not only connect with Him and brag about Him, but we will also be loving, right, and fair with other people. This word for “right” means acting right and honest according to God’s Word, not having to be perceived as right/correct all the time which can lead us to bragging about being wise and right. We gotta remember who we are and Who we belong to and how it is like us to act like Him. And if we are going to brag about something, let us brag about the great, unending, unconditional, love of our God. When a shouting match ensues, instead of bragging about how right our side is, we need to love those who are shouting against us and brag about the way God loves us all.
Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!
