While on a recent vacation in Miami, I was struck by a billboard I saw on the way from the airport to our condo. “Because image matters,” was the tagline; what it was selling, I don’t remember. Seeing such a billboard in Miami probably shouldn’t come as a surprise, but I was dismayed nonetheless, because it was exactly the type of cultural myth that I have been preaching against this year in 5/8 Club.
Back in April, I knocked on the door of a 6th grader to give him a ride to 5/8. He told me he couldn’t come, and I asked why. While laughing, he said, “I was arrested on Saturday for fighting.” I asked him to explain to me why it was funny, which he did a poor job of. He invited me in to talk to his father. While sitting on the couch, I listened as his father explained all the heartache and trouble that he has been putting him and his mother through. His father said he could come to 5/8, but only if I personally transport him there and back and call him when I drop him off. I agreed.
On the way to the meeting, this boy proudly asked the other two boys in the car if they had heard about his fight. I told them not to talk about it. I had been planning on teaching the life skills lesson from our conflict resolution curriculum that evening, but decided I wanted to more directly address this boy’s attitude and others like it: one that takes pride in being feared, in rejecting authority, in acting apathetic towards life and the people who care about you. I knew that this kid didn’t think his arrest was funny; he just wanted others to think that he thinks it’s funny. Sadly, he will sabotage his own well-being to uphold the image that he wants others to have of him.
During that night’s lesson, I reminded the boys of two verses I’ve tried to impress on them this year: that everyone is created in God’s own image (Genesis 1:27), and that the only thing worth boasting about is one’s understanding of the Lord (Jeremiah 9:23-24). As clear as I could, I explained to them that put-downs are pointless because we all have equal value in Him. It doesn’t matter what other people think of them (good or bad); the only one they should be concerned about pleasing is the Lord. I’m hopeful that the boys can grasp these truths at a young age so they can live in harmony with their peers and experience the freedom that comes from knowing that “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).
