While watching a documentary on the Discovery Channel, is when I got the idea for the previous post on suspending judgment. The documentary was about men and women who were physically transformed by tattoos. These people went beyond "body art" and were changing their bodies to look like animals. It showed men and women who looked like tigers, cats, lizards, the devil (complete with horns) and a leopard. These "surgeries" were done without anesthesia because these technicians did not have medical licenses.
One of the more touching segments of the documentary was the tiger man going back to see his sister, who he hadn't seen since pre-body transformation. They interviewed the sister and asked her if she thought she would be able to love and accept her brother. The answer was affirmative. When they first met, the sister was taken aback some, however, she opened her arms and her heart to her brother.
It doesn't matter what a person has done to their body, what their lifestyle is, who they have murdered, or even if they are liberal or conservative -- Jesus makes the same call, "come and follow me."
When you encounter someone who you think is vastly different than you are, suspend judgment, at least for a moment, and think about what Jesus would do. We all know the answer to that one. He would have dinner with them.
May 30, 2005
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About Me
- David Michael
- Katy, Texas, United States
- Being a husband and a father is the greatest blessing in my life. I am also a Special Educator to students with an autism spectrum disorder.
6 comments:
Good point. It's hard to imagine how funky John the Baptist probably looked, right?
No kidding! I guess he would be labeled an extremist. John the B really stuck his neck out!
I have an olive green tee shirt that says "BODY PIERCING SAVED MY LIFE" and on the back it has the pierced hands of Christ. You would not believe the conversations that starts with people otherwise uninterested. Especially here in Philly, on South Street where everyone is pierced in places I didn't know existed.
I guess hanging out with only the "pretty people" is discriminatory....lucky for us! I have family members who are quite colorful and unique in a number of ways! We really should compare notes sometime!
~ldm :)
When I read this I begin to think that maybe this "Jesus thing" isn't so bad. My perception of believing in God means that one needs to be a certain way, look a certain way and act a certain way. I have committed lots of "sins" in my past. Some of my own free will and others influenced by my lack of knowing any different or my illnesses. However, I KNOW I'm not a bad person. I am a very empathetic, compassionate, loving, intelligent and creative woman.
I agree with dee that it is difficult to immediately accept people that are different. Albeit tattoos and piercings especially (maybe it's because it is so violent?) but I know what I've been through and what I've done and for the most part, I still think I'm worthy of love, belonging and going to heaven.
I can relate to wanting to be someone or something else. It wasn't because I was "bad", it was because I couldn't stand how I felt and I thought there was something fundamentally wrong with me as a person (hm...I think I still struggle with this). I haven't tried to esthetically transform myself like the tattoo and piercing people (although I do have 4 tattoos) but I have harmed myself and desperately wanted to die.
Does that mean I'm not good enough? Does it mean I need help? Does it mean I belong to one group more than another? Does it mean I will go to hell if I don't become religious?
Hm. Guess this has brought up some interesting questions for me. Thanks for provoking my thougths.
Many times when people read the Bible, they project a sanitized interpretation onto the stories. It may be because of those who in some way "represent" Jesus, either those who write or preach have lived a Sunday School kind of life. They have a difficult time understanding and envisioning what characters these men and women were, who hung around Jesus.
We do not live in a "stain glass world." As far as I know, there has only been one person, who never sinned, and that was Jesus, and we ain't him.
It is obvious that some live on the "wild" side of life. Most of the time, these folks do not have any regrets and no apologies. What you see is what you get -- authentic folks. And then there are others who have done a remarkable job of branding themselves in such away that they seem perfect. That takes way too much energy for me.
Jesus attracted people who were authentic, because he was. He attracted the more "organic" type of folks. You can't get much more organic than a 1st century fisherman.
Also, I don't think the followers of Jesus ever thought of themselves as religious. It was the ones who killed Jesus that thought of themselves as righteous.
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