A Failed Experiment in Curiosity

Quite some time ago I had what I thought was a great idea. I wanted to use a W.W.J.D. bracelet as a conversation starter. I didn’t just want to use any W.W.J.D. bracelet though, I wanted to use the rainbow one. I thought that people would definitely ask me questions about it and it would spark some great conversations. That was my assumption.

I assumed that since the rainbow has become the gay pride symbol that pairing it with the bracelet would allow me to talk about God and his design for the rainbow and ultimately the Savior who ushered in the better covenant. This was not the case. Instead, I have to believe that many people, instead of being curious, made all kinds of assumptions about me.

In the show Ted Lasso, there’s a scene where Ted is playing darts with his boss’ ex-husband. Ted makes a wager with Rupert (the ex-husband) in order to defend his boss. Rupert turns out to have his own set of darts in his pocket and things do not look good for Ted. Ted is typically happy-go-lucky and has a strong southern accent. When it looks like Ted is going to lose, he breaks into a monologue about how people have always judged him, but they’ve never been curious. This is what he says:

“Guys have underestimated me my entire life and for years I never understood why – it used to really bother me. But then one day I was driving my little boy to school and I saw a quote by Walt Whitman, it was painted on the wall and it said, ‘Be curious, not judgmental.’ I like that. (Throws triple 20). So I get back in my car and I’m driving to work and all of the sudden it hits me – all them fellas that used to belittle me, not a single one of them was curious. You know, they thought they had everything figured out so they judged everything and they judged everyone. And I realized that their underestimating me – who I was had nothing to do with it. Because if they were curious they would have asked questions. Questions like, ‘Have you played a lot of darts, Ted?’ (Throws triple 20). To which I would have answered, “Yes sir. Every Sunday afternoon at a sports bar with my father from aged 10 until I was 16 when he passed away. Barbecue sauce. (Throws triple bullseye to win).”

I certainly thought some people would be more curious, but it turns out they weren’t. Now I don’t know that they assumed that I support homosexuality. They could have assumed all kinds of things. I am just surprised that no one was curious enough to ask.

The rainbow belongs to God. It is his covenant sign to never destroy the earth with a flood again. My daughter also happens to love rainbows and I want her to continue loving them. They are a beautiful expression of God’s goodness and creativity. Also, when we ask, “What would Jesus do?”, the answer is that he would love those who are broken in their sin. Those were the people he seemed drawn to and that seemed drawn to him.

I took the bracelet off because I didn’t want to send the wrong message, but I might put it back on. I want people to be curious. I want to celebrate the beauty of God’s creation. Maybe, instead of me making the assumption that people will ask, I’ll just start using it to tell them about our gracious God.