"Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister." - Romans 14:13
So, some time ago, I go into the bank, fill out my cash withdrawal slip, walk through the Disney World line, walk toward the inviting teller, and put my driver's license and withdrawal slip on the teller's counter. He pulls both my license and the slip towards himself with the slip being closer to himself and my license placed right above it, like he's dealing a hand of Black Jack. He says, "So you'd like $50 from checking [as I see on the slip], Mr. DeGreen [as I see your name on your license]?" I respond affirmatively.
But then (we'll call him) Travis says, "Could I see your I.D. please?"
And now I'm confused. So I look at him with my world-famous I-look-dumber-than-I-usually-do look. Then (we'll still call him) Travis wakes up and says, "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm thinking. I have your I.D. right here."
Well, I know what he's thinking. We'll still call him Travis is thinking that I'm just like everybody else, namely, nobody ever shows I.D. without being asked.
And y'all know that this has nothing to do with me wanting to win a "Best Bank-Customer" Award. It has to do with the fact that "oh we of little faith" start pre-judging people at an early age; (we'll still call him Travis could not have been over 22). At a very early age, we taste things that irritate, annoy, or hurt from a person or two or ten, and we start saying, "Oh, everybody's that way."
And, because we start lumping people together (because it's easier), we miss out on a whole lot of blessings.
The worst of it is when a person or two or ten does something that irritates, annoys, or hurts us, and we throw God into the lump. Ya know like, "Eeeehh, people always have ulterior motives, so God does too. People use ya, then they leave ya, so God does too. People can't be trusted, so God can't either."
What are we doing? We're judging God, and lumping God in with everyone else; we're lumping God in with sinners. And in so doing, we miss out on the blessing that's right under our nose, namely, seeing the face of God with us in the face of Jesus Christ...
which, by the way, is a whole lot better looking face than the one that was under let's still call him Travis's nose. :-)
But, let's be clear, not judging God so we can see the blessing of his face starts by not judging others so we can see the blessing of their face.
"Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister." - Romans 14:13
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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