Humble Swagger

Besides my dad using it occasionally in his motivational pep talks before I’d take the court for big matches during my volleyball career, I’m not exactly sure where the term “swagger” actually originated. Could it have been Snoop Dog who catapulted the word into modern popularity - while rapping about money and gangster’s paradises? Kanye? Dre? I find it hilarious that my fifty something (at the time) year old dad would use this term in his language even before I did. Nevertheless, the word always did the trick. I wanted to have whatever “swagger” meant; I wanted to play with such a sense of confidence that I was unstoppable and carry myself in such a way that opponents knew they couldn’t touch me. Swagger became a mindset.

As all things do, the college playing days eventually ended and the word seemed to disappear from my mind and my vocabulary. Until just recently my husband, Mike, ran out of deodorant. It had been three days since he’d been out when he asked if I would grab him some on my next grocery run. A couple of things to appreciate about this before I get to the point of this message: 1) How he didn’t need deoderant for the better part of a week is beyond me. Had the roles been reversed, the whole city would have been rushing to buy me some deodorant. 2) What a trusting fella to allow me to pick out just any deodorant for him. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty picky with my underarm dressings. There’s only a few that actually work on my particular pits. I’m the only one that can be trusted when it comes to purchasing this sacred item. Get that teen spirit and “powder fresh” out of here!

As I perused the men’s deodorant aisle, Old Spice and its fancy red packaging caught my eye. It wasn’t the familiarity of the smell that lured me in more than the new trendy label plastered on the front of the product that read, “Swagger: Confidence and Amberwood”. Yes, this is the one, I thought, as I threw the value pack in my cart. I secretly wished this little subliminal message, that would soon be sitting on Mike’s bathroom counter, would do more than suppressing his body odor, but that it would actually evoke the same type of confidence in Mike that it did in me on the volleyball court. I needed Mike to get more aggressive in life. I yearned for him to stop taking a backseat all the time - to others, to himself, and to me even. He was just...too...nice. Always keeping quiet when I felt he should be loud. Always putting his head down and working hard to not rock any sort of figurative boat. And tirelessly putting others above himself. I was tired of seeing him serve so dang much. I wanted him to step up and lead, like a man!

So it’s no surprise that right around this divine intervention in the men’s deodorant aisle at HEB, I had been on Mike about all of these things. In a loving sort-of-kick-in-the-pants type of way, I encouraged him to become a little cocky and arrogant like the Mike I met on the Guadalupe river 11 years ago. In my mind, he needed to step into the spotlight where God created him to stand and out from behind the scenes where he had always been. I even prayed that God would help him realize his worth and give him the “swagger” he needed. I literally asked the creator of the universe - the one who determines if I take my next breath or not - to give my husband “swagger”. (hand facepalm emoji inserted here).

Then it hit me (like it usually does when I ask God to change other people) that I was the one that needed to change. Here I was thinking and praying that my sweet, God-fearing husband should conform to the world’s definition of the word “swagger”. I almost had Mike convinced that he needed to “be” more like the man God created him to be...or should I say how I preferred him to be. I wonder how many times we, unknowingly, let our “preferences” dictate how we pray, encourage, and lead people and then tell ourselves, or others, “this is who God wants you to be.”? Eek. That’ll be another post for another day.

What I failed to realize, in my fleshly pursuit of a different version of my husband, is Mike already embodied swagger. It might not have been the Matthew McConaughey in a Lincoln commercial type swagger, but he possesses a type of swagger that’s anything but common in this fallen world. It’s the type of swagger that leads quietly and from behind the back of the pack. It puts everybody else’s needs above its own, and it doesn’t think twice about it. When the whole world goes into a hysteria, this type goes and prays. A person with this type of swag works hard behind the scenes so someone else can get the glory, recognition, and spotlight. It’s meek but carries a certain profound strength making it easy to recognize there’s a higher power at work within it. Where swagger manifests in words and actions, humble swagger is manifested in actions and reaction. A person that walks with a little humble swag doesn’t have to say much. They fully understand that no matter what’s thrown at them, what transpires, who leaves, who hurts them, or what’s said about them - they can still be at peace because they walk with the Almighty God. He’s in them, He’s a part of them, and He never leaves them. Someone who exhibits humble swagger knows this to their core and it permeates through everything they do.

I’m reminded of a story that involves someone else who exhibited a little (a lot of) “humble swag” over 2,000 years ago. I thought it may be important that we know this story since we’re supposed to be image bearers for Him. It’s also quite fitting for the situation America is facing right now. In Mark 4:35-41, after Jesus finishes teaching large crowds by the shores of Galilee, He and His disciples board a boat to go across the other side. As they traveled, a violent storm wreaked havoc on their boat. The waves were so large they came crashing into the vessel. When the panicked disciples went to get Jesus, they found Him sleeping in the stern. Shocked, they woke Him up and asked if He even cared about their lives. Getting up, He turned to the sea and said, “Peace, be still”. The sea immediately calmed down and the wind died. He then asked His disciples, “why are you so afraid? Where is your faith?”.

So many interesting things can be gleaned from this small passage in scripture. But what I’d like to focus on is Jesus’ reaction to the storm compared to the disciples. When the disciples were panicking and fearing for their lives, Jesus was sleeping. SLEEPING! I’m not sure if you’ve ever been out on a boat in rough conditions, but I have. Growing up close to Galveston Bay in a family that loves to fish, I’ve been on many boat rides. When the sea is choppy, sleeping is the absolute last thing you’d think or want to do. So how is it that Jesus was able to sleep during this event? Philippians 4:6-7 says, Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Peace despite chaos. Peace in the midst of difficulty. Peace above panic. Calm, cool, and collected without many words spoken is a person with humble swagger. This is what Jesus, over and over again, modeled for us. The truth is: Life will be full of storms. They may all look and feel a bit different, but it’s how we react to them that distinguishes a person with rock solid faith from the rest of the world. What are you going to do when worry starts to creep in? Are you going to follow the pack and do what everybody else does? Or are you going to pray and tell God what you need and thank Him for all that He has done in your life?

We are literally in a time in which Christians have a massive opportunity to display their faith to a watching world. We can choose to humble ourselves and be like Jesus in the storm or we can be like the disciples when the first wave came and panic ensued. How are we going to react? How are you going to react? I sometimes wonder if Jesus, being fully God and fully human, allowed the storm to persist in the manner in which it did in order to test His followers? To see which ones would react with faith and which ones would react with fear, already knowing the outcome? The text doesn’t tell us this, but it’s not hard to imagine this being the case. What if this Coronavirus is a test for you and me? To see which one of us is going to react with fear and which one of us is going to react with faith? Are we going to spend more time in prayer and scripture, or are we going to scroll through the scary posts on Facebook and Instagram more? Are we going to contribute to the hysteria or are we going to let our faith rise - possibly sparking a revival in the hearts and minds of the watching world?

If you go by the name Christ follower, I suggest we show the world that that’s what we go by. Let’s all exhibit a little humble swag in the way we act and react when things get scary, hard to understand, and difficult to perceive. Let’s love one another - even if it’s at a distance for now. Let’s be still and focus on the gift of the present and this unusual time we get to spend with the ones closest to us. Let’s consider it a gift and enjoy this time with our families. And above everything, let’s pray and thank God for all He’s done. That’s where peace will be found.