The Pepsi Bottle

Haste Makes Waste

Now, whenever a teenage boy says, “Hey, watch this,” there is a pretty good chance somebody is about to do something they have not completely thought through. Those words have probably been spoken right before a lot of trips to the emergency room. “Hey, watch this.” “I bet I can jump that.” “I bet I can climb that.” “I bet I can eat that.” “I bet I can do this without getting caught.” And somewhere nearby, somebody has their phone out recording it. Well, Preston had a plastic bottle of Pepsi in his car. It had been sitting in the car for a while, so it was hot. And it was full.

He came over to me holding that bottle and said, “Come here. Watch this.” He had apparently figured out that if you take a hot bottle of Pepsi, shake it up really hard, and then throw it down on the ground, enough pressure builds up inside the bottle that the cap will shoot off. And when the cap shoots off, the bottle takes off across the ground like a rocket. Now, I don't know exactly how much scientific research went into this idea. I'm guessing not much.

There probably wasn't a laboratory involved. There were probably no safety goggles. No adult supervision. No government approval. Just a teenage boy, a bottle of Pepsi, and confidence. Which is sometimes a dangerous combination. So Preston started shaking this bottle. And I mean he shook it. Then he threw it down on the ground. And believe it or not...it worked perfectly.

The cap popped off. The Pepsi exploded out. And that bottle took off like a rocket. There was just one small problem. He had it pointed the wrong way. Instead of shooting away from Preston...that Pepsi bottle shot straight back toward him. WHAM! Right in the face. Now, he wasn't hurt. And once I realized he was okay...I laughed. Because there are certain moments in life when nobody really needs to explain what went wrong.

The lesson has already hit you right in the face. Literally. And I imagine if Preston could have gone back about five seconds before he threw that bottle, he might have stopped and asked one very important question: “Which way is this thing pointing?” Five seconds. That's all it would have taken. Just five seconds to stop.  Five seconds to look. Five seconds to think. And sometimes five seconds can make a huge difference. The Bible says something about that.

Proverbs 19:2 says: “Desire without knowledge is not good—how much more will hasty feet miss the way!” Another translation puts it this way: “Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes.” In other words: Slow down and think. Because sometimes our biggest problem isn't that we don't know right from wrong. Sometimes we know exactly what we should do. Our problem is that we don't stop long enough to think about it. We react.  We speak. We click. We send.  We post. We follow. We do something because everybody else is doing it. And then afterward we think: “Why did I do that?” Have you ever said something and almost immediately wished you could grab the words and put them back in your mouth?

Unfortunately, there's no “undo” button for your mouth. Your phone has one. Your computer has one. Your mouth does not. Once the words are out there, they're out there. Maybe somebody makes you mad. You get a text. You immediately type back exactly what you're thinking. Your thumb is hovering over the Send button. That's one of those Pepsi bottle moments. Before you hit Send...Which way is this thing pointing?

What's going to happen when that message gets there? Is this going to solve the problem? Or is this going to make everything worse? Or maybe somebody says something about another student. Everybody starts laughing. And you've got something you could add. Something really funny. You know everybody would laugh. And for about three seconds, saying it feels like a great idea. But wisdom says: Think past the next three seconds. Because the person you're talking about is going to remember it a lot longer than three seconds.

Maybe it's social media. You take a picture. You make a video. You post something. You think: “This will be hilarious.” But before you post it, wisdom asks: Where is this going? Would I want my parents to see this? Would I want my teacher to see this? Would I want the person I'm talking about to see this? Would I want Jesus standing beside me while I posted it? Because here's something worth remembering: Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

You can send it. You can post it. You can say it. You can join in. You can follow the crowd. But wisdom asks a different question. Not: “Can I do it?” But: “Should I do it?” There's a big difference. And middle school is full of moments where people are trying to figure out who they are. You want people to like you. You want to fit in. You don't want to be the strange one. You don't want everybody looking at you. So sometimes we do things because somebody else says:

“Come on.” “Don't be scared.” “Everybody does it.” “What are you worried about?” “Just do it.” And one of the hardest things you will ever learn is how to say: “No, that's stupid.” You don't have to say it exactly like that. Maybe keep that part inside. But you do have permission to walk away. You don't have to prove yourself to everybody. You don't have to accept every challenge.

You don't have to take every dare. You don't have to answer every insult. You don't have to fight every argument. You don't have to follow everybody else just because they're moving. Sometimes courage isn't doing something dangerous. Sometimes courage is being the only person who says: “I'm not doing that.” And there's something else about that Pepsi bottle. The bottle did exactly what Preston expected it to do. The problem wasn't the bottle. The problem was the direction.

And that's true about a lot of things in life. You can be moving really fast...and still be moving in the wrong direction. You can be completely confident...and still be wrong. You can have  everybody cheering you on...and still be making a terrible decision. Sometimes we think: “If everybody else is doing it, it must be okay.” Not necessarily.

If ten people are running the wrong direction, adding an eleventh person doesn't make it the right direction. Proverbs 4:26 says: “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.”  I love that phrase: “Give careful thought.” That means think about where you're going. Think about where your choices are taking you. Because every choice has a direction. The friends you choose have a direction. The things you watch have a direction. The words you use have a direction. The things you put online have a direction. Your habits have a direction. And usually our lives don't change because of one huge decision. They change because of lots of little decisions.

One little decision. Then another. Then another. And eventually you look around and realize: “This is where those choices brought me.” That's why wisdom is so important. And wisdom is more than being smart. Some very smart people make incredibly dumb decisions. Wisdom isn't knowing all the answers on the test. Wisdom is knowing how to live. Wisdom is learning to ask: “Where is this going?” Here's a question I think can help you. Before you make a decision, ask yourself:“What happens next?”

Not just: “What happens right now?” Ask: “What happens next?” If I say this...what happens next?  If I send this...what happens next? If I lie about this...what happens next? If I join in making fun of that person...what happens next? If I disobey my parents...what happens next? If I lose my temper...what happens next? And here's the good news. God doesn't give us wisdom because He wants to ruin our fun. Sometimes young people think Christianity is basically God saying: “No.” “No.”  “No.”  “Don't do that.” “Stop having fun.” That's not what wisdom is.

God gives us wisdom because He loves us enough to warn us when we're about to throw the Pepsi bottle in the wrong direction. God can see farther down the road than we can. We usually see right now. God sees where the road leads. And sometimes God says: “Don't go that way.” Not because He wants to take something good away from you. But because He knows where that road ends. And here's another part of this that matters.

Sometimes we're going to mess up. You're going to have a Pepsi bottle moment. You're going to say something you shouldn't have said. You're going to make a bad decision. You're going to follow somebody you shouldn't have followed. You're going to do something and afterward think: “That was really dumb.” Welcome to being human. Adults do it too. We're just better at pretending we don't. But when we mess up, God doesn't say: “Well, you're finished.” He gives us another chance.

We can apologize. We can admit we were wrong. We can make a different choice. We can turn around. That's one of the beautiful things about following Jesus. Jesus doesn't just forgive us for the wrong direction we've gone. He helps us find the right direction again. So maybe you're already thinking about something you've done. Something you've said. Something you've posted. A friendship that isn't taking you somewhere good. A habit you know isn't healthy. A decision you've made that you regret.

You can't go back and undo yesterday. But you can decide which direction you're going today. That's wisdom. And the Bible tells us something else. James 1:5 says: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God...and it will be given to you.” Did you hear that? God actually tells us: Ask Me for wisdom. You can pray: “God, help me know what to do.” “Help me know what to say.” “Help me know when to walk away.” “Help me know when to keep my mouth shut.” That's a prayer some of us probably need to pray more often. “Lord, please put a lock on my mouth for about thirty seconds.” Sometimes that would save us a lot of trouble. So here's what I want you to remember today. Someday you're going to have another “Hey, watch this” moment.

Maybe it won't involve Pepsi. I hope it doesn't. But somebody is going to suggest something.

You're going to get angry. You're going to want to respond. You're going to want to fit in. You're going to want everybody to laugh. You're going to have a decision to make. And when that moment comes, remember Preston and the Pepsi bottle. Stop for five seconds. Think. Pray. Ask yourself: “Where is this going?” And remember this: Wisdom is thinking past the moment.

Anybody can think about what feels good right now. Wisdom thinks about what happens next. Wisdom thinks about who might get hurt. Wisdom thinks about consequences. Wisdom asks God for direction. So when somebody says: “Hey, watch this!” Maybe take one step back. And before you throw the bottle...make sure you know which way it's pointing.

Because sometimes the things we send out into the world have a funny way of coming right back at us. And trust me...you don't want to get hit in the face with a hot bottle of Pepsi.