This idea came to me a couple weeks back coming home from
work (you know, that job that made me put this blog on the sidelines for a
while). I was walking up the street towards the subway when I saw someone drop
a slip of paper. I have no idea what it said or whether it was important. The
person who dropped it didn’t notice it and started to walk away.
For the next three seconds, my mind kicked into overdrive.
Do I call after her and let her know she dropped something? What if there’s
nothing important on it? But what if it’s some important phone number for work?
Or maybe a receipt? Would she thank me for calling after her or laugh it off
because she was littering?
She kept walking. So did I. I didn’t say anything, and I’m
still thinking about it 3 weeks later. Why? I’m not really sure. I guess I’m
trying to figure out if I did something “wrong.”
Those of you who have grown up in a city like me, especially
a big city like Toronto, will know that people don’t talk to each other on the
streets. Or in elevators. Or on the subway or the bus. We’re a very antisocial
group, city folk. People who approach you with a friendly attitude in a city
are almost always trying to sell you something or get you to sign up for
something. So we don’t talk to each other.
And honestly, it makes me kind of sad. I was in a small town
for a wedding yesterday and not only did random strangers say hello to me, but
they complimented me on my fancy attire. And if Hallmark movies are anything to
go by, then small towns are filled with kind people who help old ladies across
the street, carry bags for people who need help, or check off a whole bunch of
other small town/boy scout clichés. But we’re talking about the big city, with
the stereotype of heartless and uncaring, keep-your-nose-to-the-ground-and-no-one-will-bother-you,
attitudes.
Why didn’t I just tell that woman she had dropped her paper?
I don’t actually see anyone with these anymore, but I
remember the fad where everyone had WWJD bracelets and bookmarks. “What would
Jesus do?” What that really means is an entire other post for another day, but
what does that look like in the context of common courtesy?
Well, let’s start with the Old Testament. There are plenty
of laws in Leviticus that cover how we are supposed to act towards our
neighbours. Leviticus 23:22 commands not harvesting the edges of your fields
and not going over your fields twice so that the poor and foreigners would have
somewhere to collect food. In today’s context, maybe that means sharing half
the sandwich you’re eating with the homeless man or woman on the street corner as
you run to work.
Or what about the Sermon on the Mount? Jesus says there that
we are to turn the other cheek towards those who try to harm us, and that we’re
supposed to love both our neighbours and our enemies (who, He says in the
parable of the Good Samaritan, are basically the same group).
Jesus Himself spent lots of time with the down and out. He
ate with sinners and tax collectors to the befuddlement of the religious
leaders of His day. He defended those who couldn’t defend themselves, like the
adulterous woman who was about to be stoned until Jesus pointed out all of her
accusers had sins in their lives too. He also spoke to the outcasts, like the
Samaritan woman with five previous husbands who had to go to the well in the
heat of the day to avoid all the looks and gossip. And of course, Jesus died on
the cross and rose again so that all of us, separated from Him because of sin,
could be brought back into relationship with Him.
But there are no stories in the Bible of Jesus tapping
someone on the shoulder and saying, “Excuse me, ma’am, but I think you dropped
your receipt from the bread shop.” The Good Samaritan stopped to help a beat up
man when no one else would, but Jesus never talked about a Samaritan who said
hello to his neighbour on the street.
Would Jesus have stopped the woman and told her she dropped
her paper?
I can only speculate. After all, we don’t have an exact
account of everything Jesus would have done in every possible circumstance. But
from what we do see of His character in the Bible, I think He would.
Kindness and compassion are Jesus’ MO. Sure, He got angry
when people treated the temple like a market, and He told the Pharisees off a
few times for completely missing the point of what they believed, but every
interaction Jesus has with people reveals how the kingdom of God is all about
renewing a fallen creation. Whether He was healing the sick, feeding a crowd,
or teaching from a hilltop, Jesus wanted people to realize there was something
wrong with the world and He was the solution. Sometimes He renewed creation by
physically healing an infirmity, while other times He spoke truth and corrected
wrong understandings so that people would know He was the only way to find
safety, security, and salvation in this world.
Jesus didn’t care about public opinion. It’s why the Jewish
leaders hated Him so much. Jesus taught with authority about what was true
rather than sticking to the orthodox Judaism of the day that had replaced mercy
with legalism. He did His Father’s work and only His Father’s work.
In contrast, I am
the only reason I didn’t tell that woman she had dropped her paper. Me. There
was no one saying it was a stupid idea. There were no angels or demons on my
shoulders whispering about right and wrongs. I rejected common courtesy because
I was too caught up in the city attitude where we don’t talk to people. I
convinced myself that people would think mentioning the paper was stupid, so I
didn’t do it.
I’m reminded of the story in Luke 8 where a woman is healed
after touching the edge of Jesus’ cloak. Jesus had been pushing through the
crowds, unaware that there was a woman near Him who desperately wanted and
needed healing, but the second she had been healed, Jesus stopped in His tracks
to look for her.
The disciples thought He was crazy. After denying it was him
or any of the other disciples, Peter says, “Master, the people are crowding and
pressing against You.” In other words, “Jesus, there are hundreds of people
touching You. They do it all the time. What’s the big deal? Can we just get
moving, please?”
But Jesus was insistent. And when this woman realized she
couldn’t go unnoticed, she revealed herself. And as she told her story, I can
only assume Jesus smiled as He responded, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.
Go in peace.”
Jesus didn’t stop to help this woman. He didn’t look at her
and say, “You, over there, come here and let me heal you.” You could easily
read this to say Jesus would bypass someone who didn’t ask for His help.
But notice how insistent He is to figure out what happened as
soon as He realized there was a need. He stopped everything to find this woman.
Would Jesus have stopped the woman to tell her she had
dropped her paper? I don’t know. I want to say yes, but I don’t know. But what
I do know is this: As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit living in and through
us. He places desires on our hearts and prods us to do things we would never
normally do. And as the Holy Spirit transforms us more into the likeness of
Christ, I believe we will find ourselves leaning more towards common courtesy.
Not because telling someone they dropped a paper is necessarily right or wrong
but because it is a kindness, one of the fruits the Spirit will produce in us
as we follow Jesus.
Uprooting that city mentality won’t be easy. I still don’t
really like to talk to people downtown, though working at a bookstore where I
have to talk to random strangers is helping with that. But the next time I see
a stranger drop a paper or their books or need help with some little act, I
hope I’ll remember this to stop and help out. It’s only common courtesy, after
all.
________________________
Now for the boring stuff. If you don’t care about the
scheduling, thanks for reading and see you next time. But for the rest of you…
Weekly posting just isn’t feasible for me anymore. I want to
want to do this, and I have too many other writing projects to commit to
writing a post a week. Instead, I’m going to loosely commit to two posts a
month. By loosely, I mean if it’s only one, or if a post doesn’t come exactly
when it’s supposed to, please don’t send me hate mail.
The goal is to post on the second and fourth Sundays of
every month. That’s right, no more Thursdays. The Second Sunday Switch-Ups will
now be bi-monthly. This means that after today, the next SSS will be the second
Sunday of December, then February, then April, and so on.
The remaining posts will be the stories, the whole purpose
behind this blog. I’m hoping to shorten them. 2000+ words a week was getting
tough to write and, frankly put, long to read. The goal was originally 1500,
and I’m hoping to get back down to that. But indulge me if I get long winded (I
tend to do that, if you haven’t noticed).
Once again, I’m grateful for all of you who started this
journey with me and are willing to continue now that I’m back. I’m excited to
try my hand at these again and remind myself what shedding our Sunday school
glasses is all about.
Can’t wait to see what’s in store!
~Brentagious
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