Good Luck?

Well, Jon Acuff has done it again. He cracked me up this time with his blog about Chrisitans that say "Good Luck" and then feel guilty about it. Here is what Jon said:

“Good luck with the 10K this weekend!” Well, I mean, I don’t personally believe in luck, but you might. I believe that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. But how am I supposed to say that to you, my colleague from work, in the break room?

“I hope God works all things for the good of those who love him this weekend at your 10K race!” That’s a mouthful, but seriously, I probably shouldn’t be saying “good luck.” Some Christians don’t even say “Pot Lucks.” They call them “Pot Blessings” which kind of sounds like the headline from an issue of the marijuana magazine “High Times” but I’m only digging myself into a deeper hole of awkwardness at this point.

Would it be weird if I told you “Have a blessed 10K?” Does that make me sound like I’m the kind of person that would throw holy water on you during the race or hand you communion wine at one of those drink stands along the course instead of Gatorade? And do I have to over pronounce the “ed” at the end of that word like some people do? Do I say “blessed” like I would say “messed” or do I need to pronounce it “bless-ed.” I always feel like some random guy named Ed is getting hooked up when people do that.

This is getting so complicated. From here on out, I’m dropping luck, I’m dropping
bless-ed and am just going to say “Yay running!” and throw both hands into the air with spirit fingers. Wait, are spirit fingers related to the Holy Spirit or are those bad too? Ohhh, slippery slope, slippery slope indeed. I’ll go with jazz hands then, definitely jazz hands.

While funny in itself some of his commenters were equally hilarious. One guy suggested "Godspeed" as an appropriate encouragement for a race and several others agreed with him. I happen to like the suggestions that this guy made:

a simple "have a good race tomorrow!" might work well too.

other options could be:"ill pray that the lactic acid production is supernaturally
suspended... speaking of suspension, did youknow that jesus was suspended on
a cross for your sins.."

or."i'll pray that your loins are girded and that you are endowed with the
endurance of Elijah... who outran a team of horses... by the way have you read
that story in the Bible?? you know God's love letter to humanity?.... ... "

or. "May you run your race like it is to be won.. and not disqualified along
the way. You know, like Paul (Jesus's super duper post-mordem-assention marketer of ancient days)...."

so many options... all of which i'm sure would be recieved with thanks and no
discomfort.

As entertaining as that is, it does make me think. I had dozens of people (church people) wish me good luck before my half-marathon. I say "good luck" to people and never give it a second thought. I don't believe in luck so I guess for me it's just an expression, but I guess the same argument could be made for taking God's name in vain.

I don't believe in luck but I also don't necessarily believe in praying for every little hangnail extraction and close parking space. It's not that I don't think God cares I just think that I can be a happy, positive witness for Christ whether I have to walk 100 yards to the mall entrance or 10 so what difference does it make.

What do you think? Should Christians ever utter the word 'luck'? Have you ever eaten a "Pot Blessing"? Do Christians get too hung up on semantics and miss opportunities for authentic relationships?