Re(Tro)View:Big Truck!

     In our arsenal of "Parent Tricks" I am unsure when the Big Truck entered our family's lexicon. I think it may have come from my nephew but it sure worked when our son Josh was a toddler...it's hard to tell. At some point my wife and I discovered that we could distract our toddler from nearly any toddler-esque car-ride inspired tirade if there was a "big truck" to be pointed out and focused on. So, we would short-circuit the meltdowns that came when the goldfish crackers ran out by pointing out the car window and shouting (excitedly) "Look!  Big Truck!"  This would inevitably cut the tantrum short as the frantic search for the aforementioned truck would ensue.  After a while we realized that there did not even need to be a "big truck" to point to, or even a car window to point out. Simply pointing randomly and excitedly shouting, "Big Truck!" would do the trick, although often leading to a puzzled look from the mollified toddler who could not find the truck while walking down the aisles of the Kroger Grocery Store.

  Over the years Big Truck became family shorthand for "change the topic". During uncomfortable conversations or awkward segues it is not unusual for one of my, now teen, offspring to shout out, "Big Truck!"  I know parents who have employed similar tactics using shiny objects like car keys to distract their toddlers.  Interestingly enough jingling car keys at teens also gets their attention but for entirely different reasons.  
    Distraction is a useful tool for any parent of small children, but it can be less useful as we get older.  We live in a world of distraction. In fact some have posited that we may be the most distracted era of people in history.  We are surrounded by endless distractions that grip us with increasingly clever "Big Trucks".  As you read this there is a chance that there is an ad on this blog.  If so, there is also a chance that the tracking software used by marketing giants like Google and Amazon has tapped into your shopping habits and is currently displaying an ad tailored to your personal tastes.  Now if that isn't just the biggest big truck....

  Add to this the prevalence of portable electronic devices like smart phones, tablets, phablets, Kindles, Nooks, etc, etc etc and you have some of the most distracted humans in the history of ....well, humans. Why do we all fall prey to distraction so easily?  It has to do with how the human brain is wired.  We are designed to be alert to changes in our environment for safety's sake.  When a lion darts out of the bushes in the periphery of our vision, even if it is a hundred yards away, our unconscious brain sends the signal to pay attention to the new stimulus to our conscious brain. It is our brain's way of saying, "Hey you!  Is that thing going to eat us?"  The more things stimulate our eyes, the more we respond to them.  Ever notice I use a lot of pictures when I write?  That is neither accidental nor incidental.
    Humans are complex creatures and we tend to take simple reflexes, like the inclination to be distracted, and turn them into complex behaviors.  The "Big Truck" strategy can be seen in most adult interactions when blame needs to be shared or shifted.  How often have we seem someone (maybe even us) try to shift attention away from our own failing to someone else by pointing out their failing.  We try to "Big-Truck" our way through adult life.  

    If I am being frank it seems like this whole election cycle has been nothing but candidates yelling "Big Truck!" at us over and over again.  I am a little sick of being treated like a toddler by the people who are supposed to be qualified to lead my nation. Yet, I have to admit it is unsurprising that they would try to distract us from their failings by pointing out each other's...after all humanity tends to do the same thing with God. 

Luke 18:9-14He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."

     Honestly all the Pharisee is doing  is shouting "Big Truck!" at God and hoping that God is about as sharp as a toddler. Maybe the Pharisee really believes his own hype, but in my experience the louder the blowhard the deeper the insecurity that underlies the bluster.  Many of us are pretty dishonest with ourselves and the world about our insecurities and sense of personal guilt and failing. Just because we shout "Big Truck!" and pat ourselves on the back does not change the fact that somewhere deep down inside we know the truth.  That truth, and the lies we tell ourselves and others about it, is like a great boulder that a tree might have to grow around.  

Just because we can keep on growing and living while avoiding the truth does not mean we are growing straight or healthy.  The Pharisee was not doing himself any favors by yelling "big truck!" at God.  He only was setting himself up for deeper and deeper twists and turns to continue growing around his own brokenness.  He became bent by feeling like he had to justify the unjustifiable.  The tax-collector on the however, was set straight by the hand of God as it removed the weight of guilt from his shoulders in that moment of confession:

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified

To be justified means to have the burden of all that guilt and shame removed from your heart so that you can begin to grow straight and strong.  As long as the Pharisee tries to shake some keys at the almighty he will have to bear the burden of his sin, and self deception.  All the while his soul will grow more bent from the exertion of straining against the weight. 

As you stand before God, every day, and in every way, do you look at others in hopes of finding someone you can "throw under the bus" so that you feel better about your own brokenness or do you look deep in your own heart and pray the prayer of the Tax Collector: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"  When God hears that prayer from your contrite heart he rushes to lift the burden of sin from your shoulders and say to you, "As Christ died on the cross for your sins you are forgiven."  But to the Pharisee who only wants to justify himself and shout "Big Truck!" God has nothing...You see, God isn't a toddler and can't be distracted, and he does not offer to his children blessings they don't want...like forgiveness.   Now, what do you want?