"We headed into the drive-through line. As we waited, I began asking for orders. . . The order was locked and loaded when I pulled up to the speaker. "Welcome to Wendy's. May I take your order?" a young voice said. "Yes, I'd like two orders of chicken nuggets. . ." at which point I was interrupted.
"You said a chicken sandwich?"
"No, two chicken nuggets,"
"Two chicken sandwiches?" I smiled at my family trying to be patient. I thought I would mix it up to help him out.
"Let's go with two fries, a chicken salad, a chili, and two orders of chicken nuggets."
"Would you like the comb meal with the chicken sandwiches?" he queried.
"No," I said, "It's two chicken nuggets."
"Oh, okay, chicken nuggets." It was at this point that my six-year-old yelled out from the back seat loud enough for the speaker to pick up, "What to go, genius!"
Now that's an experience many of us have been through. Perhaps we have even joined the six-year-old in disgust because let's face it, the person behind the speaker might an 'idiot.' Now I am using this term gently because Rusty places it at the center of his argument. . . .Let's follow Rusty's thought-line and see where it takes us. . .
He continues in the rest of the chapter talking about how everyone is an idiot but me. And if they are all idiots in our community, and I am not, that creates a relational-divide. It creates an us/them dichotomy. Defining someone else negatively is an isolating practice. If they are all idiots, and if I am not, then I am the only person who I can rely upon throughout my day. I have the answers that the foolish, idiot, does not.
Can we see how separating this thought can be. But if we follow the line of thought to its natural conclusion then we join Rusty in worrying about the future of evangelism and the church:
"When we are left with questions about how to deal with our depression, handle our addiction, resolve our marriage tension, or help our kids with their anger, we wonder, What good can anyone else do? I'll just figure this out on my own. After all, everyone is an idiot."
And now we see how serious this can be. The young man in our story was just not hearing everything correctly. The child did not need to jump down his throat (and the parents did step in properly). But often times the temptation arises to join in with the community in labelling others as 'idiots.'
I wonder what might happen if empathized more, listened more, and sough out the 'other person' for help and their presence?
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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