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| Dear Banana Boy |
The section that I read this week (1John 3) calls a skunk a skunk and a dove a dove. (Wish my Sweet Hubby and Bubba had known the difference.) Basically, John explains that if the animal looks like a skunk, sounds like a skunk, and smells like a skunk, it probably is one and we best stay upwind of it.
John basically said that a Christian could be identified by his actions of purity and love and that a non-believer could be identified the same way, by his habits of sin.
At first this seemed so judgmental to me. No wonder folks think of Christians as intolerant. But then I examined it a little closer. I look at it this way. What if my
dear boy, especially when he was younger like in the picture, planned to Trick-or-Treat in a scary part of Dallas?
I can just picture the dark, damp streets with few lamps and fewer kids. Abandoned tenement housing lay on his right and a couple of brick homes with boarded windows silhouetted the sky on his left. Some lights squeezed through the boards so there were people somewhere. His little plastic pumpkin basket waddled in his hand and the ends of his banana dress blew back as his tennis shoes squished against the cement."Hey boy." A man stood near a bush shadow. "Whatchu doing down here ... boy?" His words slurred together as he advanced, walking sideways.
"Trick or Treat?" The little banana held up his basket.
"I'll trick your treat."
Gee, it's much easier to write scary things about my dear son now that he's nine feet tall and the size of a linebacker! But still, I'd never have left him out to fend for himself in such a place. Heck, I wouldn't have gone there either! A haunted house couldn't hold a candle to a place like that!
In the same way, John is protecting people who have been his students in this section. By explaining how we can know who is really following Christ and who's just talking about it, he first urges us to examine ourselves. Then he alerts us to be careful of the people who look good and sound good, but don't live out what they tout.
Who was it that said, "You can't talk the talk unless you walk the walk." It wasn't John, but it sure sounds like him!
So, going a little bananas here (couldn't resist) share a scary time in your life. Could be light or heavy, spiritual or not. Just share a story or a link to a blog post about the heebie jeebies.
Excellent post, Marji. It's interesting that the Bible says "they were first called Christians in Antioch." Other people called them Christians because of the way they lived. We should follow that example!
ReplyDeleteMost recent scary time? Getting the "call back" for further imaging after my first mammogram. Ended up having to have a needle biopsy, too. All is well, but it was a hand-wringer!
Oh my gosh, Niki. That would terrify me! Thanks for stopping by!
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