I stood behind a man with a statement shirt: Faith, Family, Friends, Flag, and Firearms. My heart dropped. I didn’t scoff. I didn’t roll my eyes. I was a combination of deeply sad and a big angry.

I realize some people will read this and be confused. You might own the same shirt and wonder why I’d have the reaction I had. Let me try to explain. It’s actually quite simple.

Why do we attach what we want to God, as if he rubber stamps our priorities?

We do it for ourselves, not for God. Taking a look at Jesus’ interactions in Scripture, he doesn’t rubber stamp people’s preferences and comfort. Not by a long shot. Faith isn’t about our preferences. Sometimes, our preferences are in line with God’s. In fact, that happens more and more as our faith deepens. However, it’s more of a priority-simplification process than a platform-expansion result. When our faith drives us to checklists of do’s and don’ts, we miss out. We get distracted from who God is.

I trust God gives us passions. He purposes our steps. Those steps are more about the process of curiously staying close to him than following a platform. When we build something out of our faith that God doesn’t intend, we miss out on pursuing faith. We can deeply love him and believe him without putting in the moment-by-moment humble effort of trusting him to clarify and prune. Some things become too important to us. We attach those things to our faith and look for others to affirm us. We hold our preferences tightly in our fists instead of offering an open hand to God, letting him give and take, correct and fine-tune. It’s not an easy posture, but it’s the posture of faith.

If we’re not willing to be humble in our faith, what impact does it have on ourselves and others?

As I stood behind the man with the alliteration shirt, I wondered: as secure as he might have been in his apparel billboard, how was it impacting others? Was it inviting conversation or driving people away? I think the latter is usually the case, and it quite frankly annoys me when people of faith are too selfish or stubborn to peel back the layers we’ve bundled God into for their own comfort. I’ve done it, too, which is probably why I can identify it. I’m not above selfishness and stubbornness. I have to fight against it every day, multiple times. I don’t always win the fight. But I will be intentional about it. I must be in order to honor God well and live in the purpose he has in me, including the influence I have on others.

I’d rather God determine what influences me and how he uses me to influence others than trying to determine it all for myself and slapping his name on my efforts.

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