Who am I--Arrogance blinds me!

Several months ago I was driving through the Chick-fil-a parking lot when a man came through the parking lot driving the wrong way. My initial reaction was anger..."How stupid can this man be. What the heck is he doing?"

Then...the sting...followed by a painful realization...

As the man slowly passed me, I realized that everything he owned seemed to be in the car with him; it was packed full...then a hard truth touched me. I am not this man's judge! I have absolutely no idea who he is or where he has been. I have no clue if he really is homeless or how he might have gotten that way...and if I was honest with myself...i didn't really care much but had plenty of my own "thoughts" (judgments) as to why his life is the "way" it is...OUCH!

The more I think on this day the more I am filled with realization of how arrogant I am...In arrogance I felt like I had a "right" to be angry with this man. I had a "right" to frankly, almost, if not, curse him under my breath...

Who in the world do I think I am...I have no clue who this man is and why do I think I am the rightful judge over him! The realization that I could care less about this man and his story, is almost just as painful. To be really transparent, I often interact and pass by people daily whose lives I often overlook. I don't, or at least before this day didn't think twice about driving straight pass a homeless person while stuffing my face with food and chugging down a soda. In my head I would think, "Yeah like I am really going to give you money. You're probably some drunk idiot who wasted his life."

If most of you were honest with yourselves, this is your response too. As Americans, we are so often spoiled little Pharisees! We pride ourselves on our put-together, educated "righteous" life that we shout about on the street corner of Facebook and Blogging. We have built up this way of thinking that says "I have a RIGHT to judge. I have a RIGHT to decide guilty!"

Well...newsflash Rebecca!....NO YOU DON'T!

Now there is discerning but so often I am not discerning, I am judging and condemning to hell someone who I wont spend five minutes listening to, I mean really listening to...I, in arrogance, go about my day trying desperately to masquerade around like I am a perfect person with a righteous life. In my arrogance and pride, I pass judgement on people right and left...I have convinced myself that I am so righteous that now I, without hesitation, judge the woman next to me in the check-out line, whose kids are screaming while she spends what feels like forever trying to get them to be quiet so she can give the lady money....I don't know whats going on in her life...I don't know her...

If any of you know or have met my husband, then you know he is such a wonderful man who gives love without hesitation to people. He doesn't wait to hear someone's story to decide if they should get "sympathy love" or "love that seeks to gain"...he just loves! Christ does it even better and even more fully! Which, to me, is so hard to understand, because over the years I have puzzled over how my husband can just give people things without any second thought! Christ revolutionized how we should act...the way in which to interact with others...that revolutionizing act...LOVE, pure and simple, unearned-AGAPE LOVE!

 I may not know the person next to me but you know what?

CHRIST DOES! and CHRIST KNOWS that man in that car, I mean really KNOWS him...

What would it be like if for once I shut-down that pharisee, arrogant mindset of mine and listened, I mean really LISTENED to Jesus' heart????

What if I LOVED as HE LOVED???

What if I responed with a PURE HEART...not out of some evangelistic duty that needs to be filled?

What IF I gave EVERY single person what they asked for and went on to give them MY tunic???

What if I actually LIVED what was written in the Word...without making it into metaphors and adding buts to all the hard parts????

What if I OPENED my home to strangers???? What if I showed HOSPITALITY???

Again, WHAT IF I LOVED AS HE LOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO QUESTIONS ASKED...JUST LOVE FREELY GIVEN!