I was reading through my files looking for a sermon illustration and I run across a story I had typed in and have never really used. I swear to you that this is another true story.
One time I was on a journey back from my parents house and my family stopped at a large shopping mall that has a play area inside of it. It was only about ten in the morning and I was surprised to see so many in the mall already. Many of the shops had not yet opened and most of the people were there to let their kids play in the soft foam area designated for them. There were several people of Asian descent there, a few seemed like they knew each other. There was also a group of seemingly middle class looking people standing around talking while the children played. They would occasionally shout, “Get down,” and “Be Nice” to the children as they enjoyed the time together. One little girl was being taken care of by a lady in her mid 30’s with nice hair and an average build. She was not the mother of the little girl because when the two finally left together she said, “Let me take you home to your mother.” I am guessing she was a babysitter for the day that was trying to talk to her friends and let the little girl play at the same time.
All pretty normal stuff so far, right? Well, the interesting thing for me was the fact that the little girl, probably 5 years old or so, was wearing a unique T-shirt. She had black braided hair, blue jeans, red socks and a white T-shirt with some writing on it. The writing was in black permanent marker and obviously written by an adult or older sibling. What the shirt said was, “Ask Tim Johnson why he hates my mom?” I swear to you that it is true. Here is a little girl playing in the mall and wearing a shirt that asks an enormous question. I wonder – Who is Tim Johnson? The Father? A Husband? A Boss? A Lawyer? Who is he? And why would this little girl think he hates her mom? Has there been abuse? Is he addicted to something? Did he blow all the money at a Casino? Is he getting a divorce? Is he having an affair? Thousands of questions run through your mind. I wanted to ask the little girl or her guardian for the day what it was all about. I’d really like to talk to her mom and maybe Tim Johnson. Was this real? Was it a sick joke? But I sit back and watched and never said a word.
Since that day I have thought about the incident a great deal. I would really like to meet the person who made that shirt. I mean they cut right through all the small talk and get right to the heart of the matter. Why does he hate my mom? No niceties exchanged just a straightforward question. And I imagine the mom has asked that question and Tim Johnson would not give a straight answer. So, lets put the world on alert and maybe we’ll finally get to the bottom of this she says in her heart. I admire this person’s ingenuity and the courage of the little girl to wear it. I have been thinking of making some of my own t-shirts with some big questions on them. Maybe then I will get some honest answers. Then I start thinking, “but what if someone else started writing their questions about me on a shirt?” How would I like to be Tim Johnson? Embarrassed? Angered? Humiliated? Could I ignore it?
It probably would not be a great world if we handled all of our conflicts through t-shirt questions. I will stick to the funny shirts I wear and hiding behind my small talk. As for Tim Johnson – you can run, but you can’t hide.