The 40 Day Journey - Day 3 (Idiot?)

Today I took Daniel to Super Cuts to claim our free haircut. (See, it is worth hanging on to those punch cards for 2 1/2 years!)  There was a young Vietnamese guy just cleaning up his station. He quickly came over and helped us.  His accent was pretty thick and I had to ask him to repeat himself a few times. He was super polite and had a kind smile. He asked how we'd like Daniel's hair cut. I asked him to clip the sides with a size four blade and scissor cut the top. Then I said, "And can you just make sure you don't cut the bangs straight across?"

He smiled a knowing smile and said with a slight hesitation, "We don't want him looking like an...idiot."  He used that last word almost with a question mark and let it hang in the air for a minute.  I wasn't sure what to say until I realized he had been searching for the right word.  I just smiled and said, "Yes, he needs to look cool!"

My handsome boy!

This guy was so sweet, there is no way he meant to use the word idiot!  And I did not want to embarrass him by correcting him (after all, what word would I use?)

So what does this have to do with my hour with God today?

I was thinking how easy it is to misunderstand God, or something in the Bible. We read a word written in English that was originally written in another language and we "interpret' it in our own understanding.

A few of us are encouraging one another to memorize 24 passages of scripture this year. Debbie and I ended up both memorizing part of 1 Corinthians 13 (we all choose our own verses).  Verse 7 says, "it (love) does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth."  We were both curious about wrongdoing and truth being put at odds with one another. I decided to look up the original word and figure out what was actually meant.

Wrongdoing is translated from the Greek word "adikia".  It speaks of a disregard for that which is right, it is translated as unrighteousness or injustice.  In 1 John 5:17 it is defined as sin.

So back to the verse.  Love does not rejoice at sin, or injustice, or unrighteousness. Guilty. Why do I feel better about myself (rejoice) when someone else fails?  It's as if there is this magic measuring rod and if someone else can blow it bigger than I can, then somehow I'm not quite as bad of a person. Wrong!  The Truth is we are all guilty.  We all sin.  We are all unrighteous.

William MacDonald writes, " There is a certain mean streak in human nature which takes pleasure in what is unrighteous, especially if an unrighteous act seems to benefit one's self.  This is not the spirit of love.  Love rejoices with every triumph of the truth."

I was just hoping for a correct definition to a word in my time with God today, not for conviction!

So let's stop comparing ourselves to one another (rejoicing at wrongdoing).  And in the wise words of our new Vietnamese friend, let's not look like idiots. :)  Instead, let us rejoice with the truth, our common bond, we are all in need of a Savior.