January 16, 2024 - Whacked

      If you haven’t seen a blog in a while, it is because I haven’t written one.  The Spirit hadn’t moved me, at least until yesterday.  I may have another one or two coming soon.
      I got whacked by God yesterday while doing a good thing.  I received the news that Jodie wasn’t doing well; I had to go see him regardless.  I’ve been fighting a cold, which seems to be a recurring thing.  The weather was in the teens here and our driveway was covered with snow.  I couldn’t get up the driveway until it was cleared.
      I finally got the driveway cleared and eventually headed to the hospital.  I was wearing blue jeans because of the cold weather.  I didn’t look very “pastorish.”
      As I walked the corridor between the parking garage and the hospital the Lord took me back close to 40 years to remember a sin that I had committed.
      It wasn’t something that I had done or even something I hadn’t done.  It was something that I had thought.
      If it was 40 years ago, then I was a young pastor, serving as a youth pastor in a large church.  One of my responsibilities was to make hospital visits twice a week.  I was expected to make those visits wearing a tie.
      I remember this as vividly as if it happened yesterday.  When I walked into the hospital I met another pastor whom I knew quite well.  He was considerably older than I was at the time.  He is now in heaven.
      This pastor had come to the hospital to make visits, just as I had done.  I was wearing a tie; he was wearing blue jeans.
      Into my young, zealous heart the sin came.  I thought, “How in the world could you make hospital visits wearing blue jeans?”  I had no clue about the circumstances. 
      It could have been an emergency that meant that he had to come immediately or it could have too late.  Or maybe it was a person who would have felt far more comfortable if the pastor was wearing jeans rather than a tie.  Why he was wearing jeans wasn’t up to me.
      The Lord reminded me of that self-righteous thought as I walked across the corridor yesterday wearing blue jeans to make a hospital visit.
I asked for forgiveness for my self-righteous heart.  I hope that I have become more like Jesus in the last four decades.
      Self-righteousness is one of the worst sins according to the Bible.  I must be very careful when I pass judgment on another person.  The Holy Spirit does a far better job correcting someone than I can.
      Lord, forgive me when I pass judgment on someone.  May the Spirit “check” me when I have those thoughts.  Even more, may He keep me from responding to those thoughts.
      None of us is righteous enough to cast the first stone.