Sometimes, when I speak about social media at conferences, I talk about the Most Interesting Man in the World commercials. Dos Equis put them together, and they are hilarious. In them, a parade of over-the-top statements are thrown out about a bearded James Bond-type guy.
They say things like:
His words carry weight that would break a less interesting man’s jaw.
He bowls … overhand.
His blood smells like cologne.
Sharks have a week dedicated to him.
He never says anything tastes like chicken. Not even chicken.
On and on these statements go. And as funny as they are, that’s not what I talk about when I speak on social media. The sentence in the commercial I find so interesting is the one The Most Interesting Man in the World says. Here’s what he proclaims when he looks at the camera and ends the commercial:
“I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.”
That sentence is a wild departure from traditional beer advertising. In the 1980s, Miller Lite had commercials where people got in fist fights about why they drank their product. “Tastes Great! Less Filling!” And in the Dos Equis spot? The main character is saying he doesn’t even use the product all the time. Not only that, he uses the word “prefer.”
That’s an incredibly weak word. He doesn’t say, “I’ve got to have” or “I love” or “I need.” He says “I prefer.” To test how soft that word is, guys, go home to your wives tonight and say, “Out of all the women I saw today, I prefer you. Baby, I prefer you.” Let me know if that “fills her bucket” or speaks her “love language.”
Of course it won’t. The difference between “I prefer” and “I love” is gigantic. Word choice makes all the difference in the world when it comes to really communicating. And sometimes, punctuation is just as important.
I thought about that recently when I realized I was reading the Bible with the wrong punctuation. Maybe I was just reading too quickly. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention. Maybe I grew up thinking that God was serious and boring. He wore quiet, baby blue suits and sang hymns that wouldn’t elevate your heartbeat. Yeah, he invented lightning, but he’s a little embarrassed about that. It’s so bright and flashy, which isn’t like him at all.
He’s not an exclamation God!
He’s a period God.
Maybe a comma God,
Or a semicolon God;
Or a God devoid of all punctuation in the original scrolls of the Bible
But certainly not an exclamation God!
That’s how I’ve read the Bible for years. God might have been loud and big in the Old Testament when he was angry, but when it comes to his love, he’s quiet. Like a willow tree figurine or a tiny porcelain angel that sits on your grandmother’s mantle.
But lately, I’ve had a hard time ignoring the exclamations. They don’t feel nearly as invisible to me as they used to.
Here are just a few examples:
Isaiah 30:18
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Isaiah 43:19
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.
Philippians 4:2
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Can you hear those? Those aren’t quiet verses from a quiet God. They’re loud. They feel shouted, as if from a God whose love is louder than even the most cluttered day and broken life.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
But take heart!
The old has gone, the new has come!
See, I am doing a new thing!
Rejoice!
Over and over and over again, the !!! cannot be stopped in the Bible. But when I look at my own life, I’m not so sure.
How would I punctuate my faith?
Do I live with exclamation?
Do I pray with exclamation?
Do I worship with exclamation?
Or instead, do I ever give into the routines of faith? Do I go through the motions and finish the sentences of my life with periods and commas. Do I forget that praying is talking with the Alpha and Omega? Do I take for granted the wonder and the mystery and the majesty of God, even as I try to urge readers of this blog to live loud lives that exclaim who he is?
Sometimes I think I do, but each exclamation I find in the Bible makes my ordinary faith difficult to maintain.
And so my new prayer is that I would not be blind to the times God calls me to exclaim. Because there’s much more at stake than simple punctuation.
