Try Me

I have tattoos. If you’re not a fan, or you don’t think ministers should have tattoos, well, sorry. Let me just say, though, that they all have meaning and they’re all pretty great art. The meaning part is particularly important to me.

So you might wonder why I have a beet tattooed on my arm. I’m pretty famous for not liking beets at all, referring to them usually as a turnip that somebody beat with a stick until it bled and yuck. If you like beets, good on you, you’re welcome to them, I just can’t eat them. Please do not regale me with all the best ways to prepare beets, you won’t change my mind. I’m okay with not having them and again, you’re welcome to them if you like them - you can choose that. I won’t like you any less, avoid you or demonize you for eating them. Eating beets shouldn’t be on anyone’s list of criteria for being a good person or not.

And please don’t “Green Eggs and Ham” me. How often do we try to convince people, "just try it, you'll like it?" Especially children and vegetables. How will you know how good they are if you don't try it?

Thing is, I have tried them. Don’t like them. At all. I know that because I tried them. And that’s okay.

So why is there a beet on my arm? Simple. God loves all. Just because I don’t like them doesn’t mean they’re not deserving of God’s love. The beet reminds me that’s true of people, too.

The important part is the trying it. Not because you will absolutely like them or because you better like them, but because you took the time to get to know them - because we are all children of God, loved by God and worthy of love, just as we are. We can be different, we can disagree, we can have different likes and preferences, even follow different traditions and faiths and we are still worthy of love, respect and grace. It may not be your way, but it’s someone’s, and that’s worthy of love, not judgement.

You’d think any faith tradition would have learned that. I wonder if religion, conformity and exclusivity have got in the way. The idea that you need to be more like me, my beliefs and my ideas, does seem to be overpowering love. 

But look, you have a choice. There’s this great story about how Jesus’ first disciples weren’t found by Jesus and told to follow him, but instead they found Jesus and chose to follow. In the gospel of John, John the Baptist (not the same John) points out Jesus to his own followers. Twice. This is the guy I’ve been talking about, he says. The second time, a couple of them follow Jesus around until he notices them. He says “what are you looking for?” Then he invites them to come and see what he’s doing. They choose to go, and they realize Jesus is the promised messiah, which means the anointed one or the chosen one. They chose to stay and follow him. They chose love.

We all come to God - however we know God - our own way. Some feel called. Some are seeking, they may not even know what. Imagine how different things could be if we all began with love, if we began with finding out what people are looking for in their life and invited them to come and see what we can offer.