"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment" (John 7:24). Those are the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But it seems my father and I, at least once in our lives, both failed to heed that command.
In 1992, my father was the victim of a hit-and-run that caused considerable damage to his prized Chevette, the little white automobile that dutifully delivered two of my brothers and I to school many a morning. Two doors, and no room for car seats. It was sad to see the Sturguessmobile hauled away by a tow truck. Weeks later, the police found the driver who'd caused the damage and fled the scene, and brought her into custody. On foot, my father rushed to the station. The culprit, as it turned out, was none other than Michelle Pfeiffer, fresh off the triumph of having brilliantly portrayed Catwoman in Batman Returns (eat your heart out, Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, and yes, Anne Hathaway). Upon entering the station, and seeing Ms. Pfeiffer, my father adamantly declared, without hesitation or timidity...
"I'm dropping the charges."
But my father said this not out of mercy and forgiveness, but out of little more than the fact that...it was freaking Michelle Pfeiffer.
Cut to twenty-one years later, in a similar situation: I was saddened to learn that actress Emily Deschanel, of Bones fame, is an agnostic. But, I wasn't necessarily saddened because she doesn't know the Lord - I was sorry, rather, because she's such a lovely woman. Fortunately the Holy Spirit convicted me of my shallow thinking. Even if Ms. Deschanel looked like Danny Trejo in drag, my heart should still be pained and stirred by the fact that she doesn't know Christ. As well, believers should be roused with the desire to see anyone who denies Jesus be saved and blessed with eternal life, no matter who they are, or how kind or unkind they are. Faces wither (unless you're Patrick Stewart), but souls are eternal - the souls of the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Speaking of biases, we shouldn't show partiality to fellow Christians, or expect them to turn a blind eye when we've erred. We should fully expect - and desire - to be corrected by a brother or sister in Christ when we've done or said something against the word of God. The psalmist writes, "Let the righteous strike me; it shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; it shall be as excellent oil; let my head not refuse it" (Psalm 141:5). But if we react with anger, stubbornness, and shouts of "don't lecture me" befitting an angst-ridden teenager, we've failed to grasp Jesus' command of meekness and humility.
The reason I want my brothers and sisters in Christ to stay on the narrow way is not because I have the deluded belief that committing a sin or making a mistake renders one's salvation null and void, or that one is less of a Christian if he or she stumbles. Neither is the reason so that I can make some claim that Christian works make one morally better than the rest of the world (a claim which would forget God's grace). The reason I want my brothers and sisters in Christ to do well is, simply, because I'm weak. I'm among the most habitual offenders and worst backsliders to whom God ever showed grace, and I need my Christian family to keep me accountable.
I need my Christian family to talk me out of dealing three-card monte at the children's hospital; I need them to remind me of what our Lord says concerning covetousness and lust; I need them to have fought that gutsy fight to remove the plank from their eye, so that they can see clearly to help me remove the plank from mine.
OHMS,
Cpt. Bud Sturguess
In 1992, my father was the victim of a hit-and-run that caused considerable damage to his prized Chevette, the little white automobile that dutifully delivered two of my brothers and I to school many a morning. Two doors, and no room for car seats. It was sad to see the Sturguessmobile hauled away by a tow truck. Weeks later, the police found the driver who'd caused the damage and fled the scene, and brought her into custody. On foot, my father rushed to the station. The culprit, as it turned out, was none other than Michelle Pfeiffer, fresh off the triumph of having brilliantly portrayed Catwoman in Batman Returns (eat your heart out, Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, and yes, Anne Hathaway). Upon entering the station, and seeing Ms. Pfeiffer, my father adamantly declared, without hesitation or timidity..."I'm dropping the charges."
But my father said this not out of mercy and forgiveness, but out of little more than the fact that...it was freaking Michelle Pfeiffer.
Cut to twenty-one years later, in a similar situation: I was saddened to learn that actress Emily Deschanel, of Bones fame, is an agnostic. But, I wasn't necessarily saddened because she doesn't know the Lord - I was sorry, rather, because she's such a lovely woman. Fortunately the Holy Spirit convicted me of my shallow thinking. Even if Ms. Deschanel looked like Danny Trejo in drag, my heart should still be pained and stirred by the fact that she doesn't know Christ. As well, believers should be roused with the desire to see anyone who denies Jesus be saved and blessed with eternal life, no matter who they are, or how kind or unkind they are. Faces wither (unless you're Patrick Stewart), but souls are eternal - the souls of the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Speaking of biases, we shouldn't show partiality to fellow Christians, or expect them to turn a blind eye when we've erred. We should fully expect - and desire - to be corrected by a brother or sister in Christ when we've done or said something against the word of God. The psalmist writes, "Let the righteous strike me; it shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; it shall be as excellent oil; let my head not refuse it" (Psalm 141:5). But if we react with anger, stubbornness, and shouts of "don't lecture me" befitting an angst-ridden teenager, we've failed to grasp Jesus' command of meekness and humility.
The reason I want my brothers and sisters in Christ to stay on the narrow way is not because I have the deluded belief that committing a sin or making a mistake renders one's salvation null and void, or that one is less of a Christian if he or she stumbles. Neither is the reason so that I can make some claim that Christian works make one morally better than the rest of the world (a claim which would forget God's grace). The reason I want my brothers and sisters in Christ to do well is, simply, because I'm weak. I'm among the most habitual offenders and worst backsliders to whom God ever showed grace, and I need my Christian family to keep me accountable.
I need my Christian family to talk me out of dealing three-card monte at the children's hospital; I need them to remind me of what our Lord says concerning covetousness and lust; I need them to have fought that gutsy fight to remove the plank from their eye, so that they can see clearly to help me remove the plank from mine.
OHMS,
Cpt. Bud Sturguess
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