Take a Selfie?
What right do we have to stand in judgment of another?
We were talking about right and wrong this week in our Education for Ministry class. Sometimes, we said, it is hard to come to an understanding with someone's point of view.
They may be totally wrong.
Jesus straightened up and said to her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, sir. And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you. - John 8:10-11
I grew up in the Sixties, a time when a lot of the norms were being challenged. People were protesting authority, abandoning their jobs, living in communes, donning flowers and having sex with strangers.
These were not the behaviors my parents were trying to instill in me.
The difference between their actions and mine were so great that it was easy to draw a line between them, defining, at least in my parents' eyes, the boundaries of right and wrong.
But what happens when those boundaries blur, when the actions of one group seem to overlap the actions and ways of another?
That was the point of our conversation on Monday night. We sought ways to come to understand each other, especially when we see the world differently.
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus was given a tough challenge, to stand in judgment over a woman caught in the act of adultery. But what should have been an easy call, to condemn this woman, suddenly became blurry.
Jesus found a way to give the Pharisees a taste of their own medicine. He held a mirror up to them when he scribbled something in the sand. He had them take a selfie and study it.
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
The image we have of ourselves is not always as accurate as we would like to think. Like the Pharisees, we can put on our best look when we are out in public, but we may not be as good at hiding the true image within as we think.
What Jesus saw in them was different than what they wanted people to see. Just as we can look in the mirror and what we desire to see, we may also be fooled into thinking we can mask what others see in us.
I used to think my mom had some special x-ray vision. She could tell something was bothering me even when I came in smiling.
But the truth is, we can see the truth in each other, if we choose to look for it.
And sometimes, having us take a selfie doesn't help us see what others may see.
Click.
More to come...
Image Copyright: tommasolizzul / 123RF Stock Photo