Weird Honor

WEIRD HONOR

2 Timothy 2:1-26

Verses 3, 19: “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus....Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows who are His,’ and, ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.’”

We learned to apply the acronym THINK, or True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary or Kind to every word we speak—from the devotion of the same title. Jesus advises His followers to also turn the other cheek to someone who strikes us. Following Jesus isn’t easy; it feels weird. Following Jesus is a weird honor. Jesus’ words and actions aren’t natural for humans.

Ten year old Cassie understands the weirdness of following Jesus. She struggles to always to the right thing, even when she’d rather not. One day she was waiting in line. All of a sudden, a boy jumped in front of her. “Excuse me,” Cassie said, “I was here first.”

The boy turned around and said, “Too bad, I’m here now!” Then he stuck out his tongue.

Cassie bit her tongue, holding her temper. She wanted to say, “Beat it, creep!” Instead, she wondered, what would Jesus do? Then she said, “I guess getting tickets is life-or-death. Enjoy your movie.”

The boy laughed out loud, and whistled to his friends. “Come on!” he said. “She won’t do anything.” So, three more boys got in front of Cassie.

Cassie checked the time. Her mom would be stopping to pick her up any minute. Cassie said, “Would you guys hurry it up?”

The boys were horsing around, laughing at nothing in particular. Still feet away from the ticket booth.

Cassie’s mom pulled up to the curb, and honked her horn. Cassie waved, and pointed to the line in front of her. Her mom pulled back onto the street. She drove around the block, and pulled up to the curb again. Cassie was at the ticket office now. “Two, please,” she said.

“For what movie?”

“Beauty and the Beast.”

“Sorry, all sold out.” was the reply.

What would you do if this would have happened to you? Apostle Paul warned Timothy, “No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.” Believers’ goal is to please our commanding officer—Jesus.

Take Home Nugget

Jesus would warn against quarrelling, gossip or empty chatter. We’re not to make foolish assumptions about things or others. Jesus would advise that we be kind to all. Patient when wronged. Reply gently when confronted. It feels weird. It looks weird. But it’s always an honor to please our commanding officer.

The world expects rude. But it’s believers’ honor to act weird in pleasing our commanding officer.

J.D. Griffith

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