January 27, 2022

January 27, 2022

One day, a bus driver was driving along his usual route. He didn’t encounter any problems for the first few stops; a few people got on, a few got off, and things went generally well. At one stop, however, a big hulk of a man got on. He was 6’ 8” tall, built like a wrestler, and his arms hung down to the ground.

He glared at the driver and told him, “Big John doesn’t pay!” Then he sat down at the back of the bus. The driver was 5’ 3” tall, thin, and very meek, so he didn’t argue with Big John. But he wasn’t happy about it.

The next day, the same thing happened. Big John got on again, made a big show of refusing to pay, and sat down. It happened the next day, and again the day after that. The bus driver began to lose sleep over the way Big John was taking advantage of him.

Finally, he could stand it no longer. He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and a class on finding your self-esteem. By the end of the summer, the bus driver had become quite strong and felt really good about himself.

The next Monday, Big John entered the bus and again declared, “Big John doesn’t pay!” Enraged, the driver stood up, glared back at Big John, and bellowed, “And why not?!”

With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, “Big John has a bus pass.”

Think of it; if this bus driver had only taken the time to talk to Big John, instead of making assumptions based on his size.

This old story came to mind because in these highly-politicized days; too many people are like this driver in that they make assumptions about others, especially those who don’t hold their views.

We all fail in this way. Instead of talking---hearing each other out---we look at these people as “enemies” and make our own plans to prepare for confrontation, which is sad because that attitude is not even close to being Christlike.

1 John 4:18ff comes to mind: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us.”

We are called to LOVE our enemies--called to share God’s love with them.  We can’t do that if we aren’t willing to simply TALK.

Keep the SON in your eyes!
Mark