Humorous stories can often make serious points. This illustration comes from my friend Steve Higginbotham, preacher for the Karns church of Christ and is entitled “How to Cure the Hiccups.”
A lady walked into a pharmacy and asked the pharmacist if he had a cure for hiccups. He said, “I surely do,” and immediately and unexpectedly yelled “Boo!” at the top of his lungs. This scared the woman half to death. She looked at the pharmacist and said, “Why in the world did you do that?” The pharmacist said, “Because a good scare will rid a person of hiccups.” The lady said, “But I don’t have the hiccups. My husband does, and he’s out in the car.”
A lady walked into a pharmacy and asked the pharmacist if he had a cure for hiccups. He said, “I surely do,” and immediately and unexpectedly yelled “Boo!” at the top of his lungs. This scared the woman half to death. She looked at the pharmacist and said, “Why in the world did you do that?” The pharmacist said, “Because a good scare will rid a person of hiccups.” The lady said, “But I don’t have the hiccups. My husband does, and he’s out in the car.”
This humorous story speaks to the serious matter of making assumptions.
These are trying times. On top of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen this country torn apart with racial tension and riots triggered by the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Mr. Floyd died due to the actions of four policemen who were taking him into custody. All four have been arrested, and one of them (the one who held his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes) has been charged with second degree murder.
In the wake of this tragedy, I have seen and heard several irresponsible and troubling things.
It has been assumed by some that the end justifies the means, and so rioting, burning, and looting is somehow appropriate. Others have resorted to an “all cops,” “all black people,” “all white people,” all Democrats,” “all Republicans,” rhetoric. Many have ignored the fact that there is good and bad behavior exhibited by people of all races, creeds, and colors. There have been more than enough knee-jerk and ill-advised reactions and posts on social media by and about people on all sides of the situation.
Jesus warned against judgment that was based upon appearance or assumption in John 7:24: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” The religious leaders of Jesus’ day had rejected Him and made false claims about Him. Their judgment was not righteous but both assumptive and false.
It is not wrong to make judgments, if we have the facts, if we do not have a personal agenda, and if we are not being hypocritical in those judgments (cf. Matt. 7:1-5).
My plea to all of us is to make sure we have the facts before we act or speak, to not believe everything we read or hear about the matter, to always exhibit the spirit of Jesus, and above all to pray.
These are trying times. On top of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen this country torn apart with racial tension and riots triggered by the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Mr. Floyd died due to the actions of four policemen who were taking him into custody. All four have been arrested, and one of them (the one who held his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes) has been charged with second degree murder.
In the wake of this tragedy, I have seen and heard several irresponsible and troubling things.
It has been assumed by some that the end justifies the means, and so rioting, burning, and looting is somehow appropriate. Others have resorted to an “all cops,” “all black people,” “all white people,” all Democrats,” “all Republicans,” rhetoric. Many have ignored the fact that there is good and bad behavior exhibited by people of all races, creeds, and colors. There have been more than enough knee-jerk and ill-advised reactions and posts on social media by and about people on all sides of the situation.
Jesus warned against judgment that was based upon appearance or assumption in John 7:24: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” The religious leaders of Jesus’ day had rejected Him and made false claims about Him. Their judgment was not righteous but both assumptive and false.
It is not wrong to make judgments, if we have the facts, if we do not have a personal agenda, and if we are not being hypocritical in those judgments (cf. Matt. 7:1-5).
My plea to all of us is to make sure we have the facts before we act or speak, to not believe everything we read or hear about the matter, to always exhibit the spirit of Jesus, and above all to pray.
RSS Feed
