What A Dump!

             

T

he look on my mother’s face confirmed that my words had hit their mark and had drawn blood.  As most kids do, I had made a simple observation.  My statement had been blunt with absolutely no tact and no compassion, going right for the jugular.  Little did I know that my comment actually echoed a very famous line from a Betty Davis movie.  Her line was simply, “What a dump!” my line was, “What a shack!”

I was commenting on our home which was anything but a shack! My mom and dad worked very hard to provide a nice house for our family.  Our home was always clean, it was attractive, the yard was well maintained, and everyone who visited us was always welcome.  However, I didn’t quite see it that way. 

I had been visiting one of my friends in another neighborhood where all the houses were made of brick.  Our house was constructed of wood with siding.  Our house had to be painted at regular intervals while brick houses always looked as if they had just been constructed.  The point was, I thought that those living in brick houses were more well-to-do than those of us who lived in wooden houses.  When I shared my observation with my mom, she was not pleased and had an interesting solution to this situation.

She shared my convictions with my dad, who himself was just a little displeased with my observation.  She suggested he take me and show me a “shack” so I could see the difference. I will never forget that ride into the country to see a shack. When we got there, I was greatly embarrassed because in front of me was a dwelling that was not at all attractive.  There was no yard, the siding was discolored and falling off the structure, the windows needed replacing and the roof was in desperate need of repair.  Nothing about the structure looked comfortable or inviting and I was ashamed that I had hurt my parents by not appreciating or respecting their hard work to provide me with a good home.

There is a great parallel between my observation as a child and the way we view ourselves daily both as Christians and as people.  The world’s system does its best to convince us that we can always improve ourselves and be better.  Advertisers constantly bombard us with products to make us look better, to make us feel better, to remove unwanted wrinkles, to give us 20/20 vision, and to remove all signs of aging.  These ads are filled with “beautiful people” who don’t need the products they are advertising.  Does it bother you that people in perfect shape are selling diet pills?  Or how about the people without one shred of fat selling liposuction surgery? 

All this is geared toward making us believe that our bodies are indeed shacks, old, worn out, unattractive dwellings that no one wants or cares about.  The problem is we believe them.  We buy the notion lock, stock, and barrel that we are not good enough, that we are substandard, that we have little, if any, worth.  What a vast difference there is in our perspective and the way God sees us!

Isaiah 43:7 simply says, “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."  This verse is part of a larger passage where God promises to bring the children of Israel from the four corners of the globe and to re-establish them in their own land.  But I also find great comfort in the words of this small verse.  Three things we need to understand from this statement pertain to who we are and what our purpose in life is.

First, we are called by God’s name.  Think about that for just a minute.  All of us have a name and that name carries with it all the character of the person who gave it to us.  If that is true on a social level, how much more wonderful it is to know that God has given us his name and calls us his own. 

Second, we were created with a purpose and that purpose is to glorify God.  Every aspect of our lives is to glorify him because when we live life according to his plan and his will we are happy and satisfied and when we live life this way we glorify God.  This means we fulfill the purpose for which we were made. 

Third, and my personal favorite, is the fact that God says he made us and formed us.  Have you ever watched someone working with clay?  It is a fascinating process.  To make something from the clay, it must be formed.  Forming means to give shape to something. The craftsman must get his hands dirty and work and mold and gently rub the clay until it becomes what he intended.  Can you grasp the truth that when God created you, he got his hands dirt? He molded and worked and shaped and rubbed until you became you—a masterpiece!

The God we serve does not make junk and he does not make shacks!!  He is in the business of making masterpieces.  The Scriptures also tell us that we are God’s temple, his dwelling.  God does not live in a shack—he lives in you.  If you are one of his children, there is no way you can ever look at yourself as a shack!  That is the world’s perspective while God’s is completely the opposite.  Which perspective are you living today?