Bumper Sticker Theology
“I AM LOSING FAITH IN THE HUMAN RACE one person at a time”
Do people know they reveal their theology in the bumper stickers? I mean, some do it quite deliberately, you know, fish with little feet. But, the one above is the one I saw today (just for the record he had New York tags).
I admit it made me laugh. The more I thought about it though, the more I thought, “What on earth makes anyone put their faith in the human race in the first place?”
It reminded me of a time, years ago, when a neighbor in his forties started attending classes at a Catholic University. He saw me out one day and came over to tell me how distressed he was at the teaching that everyone is born a sinner, that humans are created with a “sin nature” rather than a “good nature.”
As I think back to before I knew the Lord I realize that I didn’t have faith in the whole human race, I just had faith in myself and my husband. I thought that with my gifts with people and my husband’s gifts of intellect, we would just conquer the world any way we wanted to. I was as offended as my neighbor to learn that I was a sinner (of course, it was a little easier for me to believe my husband was!).
For me it wasn’t until I heard someone teaching young children this doctrine of the sin nature that I got it. A teacher was talking to 9 – 12 year olds. She stood in front of them and asked how many of them had younger brothers and sisters. Most of them raised their hands.
Her next question was, “How many of you had to teach them to be bad? Did you have to teach them to be bad or to be good?”
I was the mother of two pre-teens. This was a really easy one for me to answer. It was the first time I saw the truth that we are born sinners, and I was convinced.
I wanted to teach the man with the bumper sticker what God says about the human race. Things like, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”(Romans 3:23) And, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
In Jeremiah 17, the prophet starts by warning people who placed their trust in men that no good would come of it. It is a warning that many have not heard. He adds, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.” He says that man will be like a tree planted by water. He will not fear heat or be anxious about a year of drought. He will continue to bear fruit.
My driver proclaimed his theology on his bumper sticker. He had figured out that trusting men was not working. I wonder if he knows where to turn? I wonder if anyone who knows him will tell him.
What is the theology displayed on our friends’ bumper stickers? Are we willing to discuss it with them?