What ‘cha looking at? (It matters!) What ‘cha hearing? (It matters!)

We see what we see, we hear what we hear, and all of that swirls around in our noggins, it’s processed, and somewhere along the way….. we make an assumption.  We come to our place of TRUTH.  Whatever that looks like to us.  But can we trust ourselves!!

Carl has a group of women from Mexico who clean the new construction houses.  Gina, who is over the group, speaks English and can even understand Carl…somewhat.  But sometimes he gets left with the other ladies…. who DON’T understand him and he DOESN’T understand them!  And yet they’re trying to communicate.  It isn’t pretty.  On one particular day, he was going to attempt to tell this gal what he wanted done.  But before he launched right in, he evidently thought he’d use his “people skills” and first ask her….”what’s your name?” His interpretation of what she said? …. “Oh, your name is Chili!”  To which she shakes her head and picks up a piece of wood and starts rubbing it.  Ahhh, he thought…. “WOOD! Your name’s WOOD?”  NOOO, she shakes her head vehemently ….. “Chili!”  To which Carl said, “Ohhh… Chili!”  To which she picks up the block of wood and starts rubbing it.  And Carl said…. “Ohhhh….  WOOD! Your name’s WOOD?”  I’m sure at this point there were exasperated groans coming from Chili/Wood! And to my amazement, this banter continued back and forth repeatedly.  I was like… “if WOOD was wrong the first time, did you think there was going to be any kind of revelation after the 5th time like,”oh yeah, uh-huh, that’s it… my name is WOOD!”  (and PS…. we STILL don’t know her name or the connection it has to a block of WOOD!  My take is that she was telling him he was a block-head!!!)  But I digress….

The thing is… does “WRONG” ever change?  Wrong is wrong is wrong.  And ever shall it be. 

And yet…. we can do the same thing!  We see what we see.  We hear what we hear.  And we make an assessment of it all.  And we can even be told…. Nah.  And yet we keep speaking it, thinking it, living it, walking it, repeating it. What’s wrong with us???  How does this even happen?  How do we keep making the same wrong assumptions, having the same wrong results, and yet we think at some point any of this will ever be any different!

I would propose there are basically 2 reasons….

We’re stupid? (I couldn’t resist.  But sometimes there’s just no explanation beyond that!) I say that in jest, but actually there’s a lot to be said for wisdom….. for taking the time to ponder, consider, evaluate, and then proceed!  Matter-of-fact Proverbs is full of such wisdom.  Case in point…. Proverbs 16:20  Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.  Now granted one might do all that considering, evaluating, and pondering and yet still proceed in a worldly way.  But this would likely be because they fail to consider the last half of that verse, that being “trust in the Lord”!  Instead they’re trusting in their own belief system.  Which brings me to the 2nd reason….

Wrong belief system.  Truth is truth is truth and ever shall be. But I think our culture has de-sensitized us to “wrong thinking” and we’ve watched it begin to look less like “wrong” and feel more like “truth”.  I’ll add… this doesn’t happen overnight.  It’s a gradual, steady decline, and I’ve somewhat had a front row seat to it even within my own lifetime!  The journey has looked somewhat like this:

It’s wrong – period.

Digressed to:   It’s wrong for you but everybody makes their own mind up about all that.

Digressed to:   Tolerance – it’s the loving thing to do, love people where they’re at.

Digressed to:   Acceptance – it’s the world we live in.

Digressed to:   Maybe it’s not so wrong after all?

So how do we find our footing in this world where black is no longer black and white is no longer white, and gray seems to be the relevant shade? 

Proverbs 14:12 comes to my mind…..  “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.  When I read that, it occurs to me that there is a “wrong way”.  So if there’s a “wrong way”….. hmmm, there must also be a RIGHT WAY!  (I love simple math~ ) But the “right way” isn’t merely a direction, choice, or path….. It’s a PERSON! 

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

All that to say….. herein is life so much simpler!  It makes life simpler because as culture changes, times change, and even I change….. it’s so comforting and assuring to be set free from having to keep up with any of all that!  Instead of me trying to discern the wisdom of culture or even my own heart….. all I have to do is follow the heart of the One who is Truth!   

So what’cha looking at?  Yes, indeed, it DOES matter!  Look at the One who is the way!

What ‘cha hearing?  Ahhh, it matters to the uttermost!  Listen to the One who is the truth!

And these never change, no matter how much everything else in our world does!   Jesus is trustworthy, faithful, and unchanging!  Ya gotta love it!  And if ya ain’t stupid, therein will a person build a life!  Because ultimately….. Jesus IS life!

Hebrews 13:8  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Malachi 3:6a For I the LORD do not change;…….

James 1:17  Every good gift and ever perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.