A church sign that I pass each day offers the following thought: “A dusty Bible can lead to a dirty life.” A dirty life? What is a dirty life? Does someone who works in the sanitation department lead a dirty life? Or does a yard maintenance person lead a dirty life? Does changing a diaper for someone young or old constitute a dirty life? Or are we talking about someone like a prostitute leading a dirty life? Or pedophile? The church has been great for sex being “dirty”! Well, I’m not sure about defining a dirty life, but I think there are plenty of people who read the Bible who should clean up their act!
If I were putting a saying like this on our church sign (which I wouldn’t), I would amend it. I would say, “A dusty Bible can lead to a dull life.” As far as I am concerned, when you devote yourself to biblical teachings about justice and poverty and compassion, when you take seriously the teachings of Jesus like Love your neighbor and Love your enemy, what you are going to get is a very interesting life. You will likely find yourself involved in all kinds of activities and relationships that are stimulating and enriching. Nothing dull or boring. And you might even find yourself getting dirty!
Lakewood United Church of Christ 
Interesting! I hadn’t thought of the way we use the word “dirty” as a synonym for evil. It almost certainly comes from the disdain of “common work” held by the lords of yesterdays who couldn’t get their hands dirty with manual labor. It’s elitist. I’m going to stop using dirty that way. Be proud of dirt.
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