Christian Living

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Simple label making machines rank pretty low in the realm of technological gadgetry, maybe a step above a battery-operated hand-held fan and a step below a calculator. The last person you’d expect to be interested in a primitive labeler would be a thirteen year-old girl who enjoys Mp3 players and blogs, but my daughter was mesmerized by one at my office and then obsessed with owning one. In what may be one of the least spiritually relevant, most inappropriate, tacky parental moves ever, I put a label machine in her Easter basket. She was elated.

As days passed, I was continually informed, by way of strategically placed labels, of key information pertaining to running our household, such as, “Kristin’s hairbrush,” “Kristin’s window,” “Kristin’s laundry,” and on her mirror, simply, “Kristin,” in an apparent effort to clear up any confusion about who was looking back when she checked herself out. Before the labels appeared, I’m not sure how I found my way through this domestic labyrinth, otherwise known as, “Kristin’s house.”

Soon, objective labels morphed into subjective statements such as, “Kristin rules,” and my personal favorite, “Zoe is the best” stuck on the backside of our tiny Yorkshire Terrier.

Enter a seventeen year-old brother. I don’t know who struck first, but soon, I discovered a silent battle of the labels in full swing, with insults mysteriously showing up on each other’s bedroom doors. All I know is, the label on Kristin’s door no longer said, “Kristin’s room,” but “Craphead’s room.” (Note to my mother: I do not know where they learned this word. Must be that crappy public school system.)

Later, Jordan’s door read, “Pretty, pretty princess’s room.” And so it went.

It doesn’t take much for a label to “stick” you the wrong way.

“Slow learner,” “smart,” “backward child,” “clumsy,” “shy,” “all-boy,” “life of the party,” “nerd.” We stick all kinds of labels on our kids; our kids stick them on their friends, and we even stick them on our selves, as silly as that is. It’s like we stick “ugly,” “fatty,” or “loser” on our mirror just to remind ourselves of who is really looking back at us. Sometimes we label other people to lower them in comparison to us, as if life is a competition. It’s mean to label other people negatively, and it’s mean to label ourselves. Why, it’s so mean someone should discipline us!

The Bible has all kinds of references to slandering and judging others, and there’s even one reference to slamming each other with insults: “But I promise you that if you are angry with someone, you will have to stand trial. If you call someone a fool, you will be taken to court. And if you say that someone is worthless, you will be in danger of the fires of hell.” (Matthew 5:22) I’m told the original Greek word for “worthless” is the equivalent of our very worst curse words, so you get the picture.

It’s pretty simple. God says, “Stop calling names. Stop sticking labels on each other. I have to pull them off and then clean up the glue. Now be nice to your brother and sister. In fact, why don’t you apologize to each other? You know I love you all the same. You’re all my favorites.”

And then, because he is so gracious, after we’ve been disciplined, he says, “Let’s sit down and have some cookies and milk together. Remember, we’re a family.” What’s not to love about a dad like that?

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