A Good Judge, or Too Quick to Judge?

First Impressions Not Final Conclusions

As I was walking over to the office this morning two disparate thoughts sat down side-by-side in my mind. I was thinking about something somebody said to me yesterday. I think he meant it as a compliment. I took it as such, even thought I'm not completely sure he is right. He told me that I'm good at reading people--making judgments as to whether someone is dependable, has good motives, that sort of thing.  The thought that began my cogitation had to do with an arm-full of stuff I was carrying, laptop, power cord, a really thick book, a couple of smaller ones, and a check that I wanted to be sure not to lose. Since my days as a freshman at Bremen Township High School, close to fifty-five years ago (back when only soldiers and boy scouts used backpacks), I have had the clear idea that guys carry stuff, like my collection this morning, one way, and girls another. Guys put the biggest flattest--in this case my laptop--thing on the bottom, and arrange the rest on top. Then they grab that big, flat thing by one edge, and carry it vertically at their side. their forearm will clamp the rest down. This leaves the other hand free for back-slapping, scratching, and other manly things.  Girls on the other hand hug their pile of books--assuming they can't get a guy to carry them (You independent women cut me some slack. I'm old-school.)--like a Teddy Bear. As is often the case, the female method has many advantages. Both arms share the load and books are much more secure. To this day, though, if I see a woman carrying a load "like a man," or a man carrying a stack of stuff "like a woman," my first impulse is, "That's odd." or, "I wonder if Bob has a sore arm?" or, "I don't want to mess with her today." I know that my barely adolescent first impression makes no sense, and my sixty-seven year-old self talks me out of it, but the reaction, like a preference for chocolate over vanilla, persists. Then I looked at the other thought, my friend's comment from yesterday. You can see where this is going, can't you? In our fast-paced world where first impressions are often the only impressions we have to work with, being able to size somebody up quickly is a great asset. BUT, But, but, we have to be careful and humble. Even if we are good at it--and in spite of my friend's compliment, I'm not all that sure I am--we need to not be overly quick to make that first impression our lasting conclusion. As I think back, I remember two preachers who made a very bad first impression on me. One I came to respect as one of the greatest preachers I ever heard. He inspired to be better at my craft. The other was my pastor for two years, and had a profound impact on my life. I'm glad those first impressions weren't my final conclusions. It's STTA (Something To Think About).

Dr. Luke on Prejudice:

Something To Think About Prejudice:

Fear rides on the back of “news.”  At its most basic level a neighbor tells those who live around him that there is some danger—the water is bad, a rabid animal is on the loose, or a fugitive criminal has fled to the area.  Quite properly the neighborhood bands together to protect its citizens, especially the most vulnerable.  It’s the kind of thing we read about in Little House on the Prairie stories.  The problem is we now get our news, not from a neighbor, but from a talking-head on the TV screen, or via a story on the internet.  The danger is amorphous, and there is nothing that I or my neighbors can do about it.  Fear festers in an environment where I really don’t know, and, in particular, where I’m helpless.  There is no fire to put out, no tornado to shelter from, no mad-dog to kill.  Just as mold grows in the damp, prejudice tends to flourish in these conditions.  Unless we guard against it we tend to think in terms of “those people.”  “All retired, gray-haired men are embezzlers.  I just saw a story about it on the evening news. I find the message of the Gospel of Luke incredibly relevant to our situation.  Dr. Luke goes out of his way to champion the cause of groups—those people--who were despised.  Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan in dialogue with an expert in Jewish religious law.  Jesus finished the story with a question, “. . . which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits” (Luke 10:36)? The Samaritan was clearly the hero, but the expert couldn’t even bring himself to answer the question in the obvious way.  Instead of saying, “The Samaritan,” he replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”   The Parable of the Good Samaritan is but one example of Luke challenging the prejudices of his day.  It’s hard to read Luke and not ask, “If Luke were writing today would he stick-up for some people that I tend to put-down?” Luke tells us about the birth of our Savior.  The good news that He brought was for “all people” (Luke 2:10), even “those people.” It’s STTA.

BREAKING BARRIERS:

Something To Think About Barriers:

With a bit of hyperbole, the Apostle John tells us “there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books” (John 21:25).  From the vast selection the four Gospel writers, directed by the Holy Spirit, selected, arranged, and adapted the material to present their unique portraits of the Lord.  There is much that each of us can learn from each of them, but probably if you take the time to get familiar with the four presentations of Jesus you’ll find one of them that particularly rings your bell.  I like Luke.  He wasn’t a Jew, but it very well could be that he had become a “lover of God” before he came to know Christ.  In spite of the insulation that the Jewish religious establishment had wrapped around the message of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Luke got the truth.  We know that when he heard about Jesus Christ, the Messiah Isaiah predicted, Dr. Luke became a follower of Christ.  Maybe it was because Luke had once been an outsider to the religious establishment that he championed others who often had to look in from beyond barriers that shouldn’t have been there.  A simple word count will reveal Luke’s emphasis on women.  He mentions them about twice as often as the other Gospel writers.  At the very beginning of his Gospel we meet Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna.  Throughout he elevates the status of women.  Even more obvious, though, is Luke’s reaching across a cultural mote to the Samaritans.  Only Luke records the parable of the “Good Samaritan” (10:30-37), and he alone tells us that out of the ten who were cured of leprosy only a Samaritan returned to show gratitude (17:11-19). We live in a day in which the temptation to prejudice is growing.  Political candidates pander to our fears.  We see stories of horrendous deeds and we are pushed to think that all “those people” are like that.  They aren’t.  In the midst of all that is swirling around us, I encourage you to read the Gospel of Luke.  It will be a couple of hours well-spent.  Read it with an open heart.  Are there groups of people whom I have wrongly put on the outside?   Here is one that doesn’t take a stretch.  Tax-collectors have never been among the most admired.  Yet Jesus felt he had to go to Zaccheus’s house for dinner.  At the end of the account Luke quotes these words from the Lord, “. . . the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).  Even Samaritans and tax-collectors.  Stay tuned, but clearly He sent us to continue the task. It’s STTA.