Do you ever watch the television show “Dirty Jobs?” That’s the show where a guy travels around the country doing jobs that everyday people do for a living and all of these jobs are generally filled with grimy, stinky, dirty, filthy, disgusting, and sometimes downright gross things. The other week the star, Mike Rowe, was in an attic and he was helping a guy kill a huge infestation of bugs and he reached down and found a six foot skin that had been shed by a snake.
That reminds me of the story of John the Baptist. First let me say that John is not your typical preacher. He is a bit of a wild man with his furry outfit and his eating habits. In fact, I have never been in a church that had a preacher like John. If you want to win friends and influence people the last way to begin a sermon is with the words… “You brood of vipers.” I can’t imagine too many pulpit committees looking at each other and thinking “this has got to be our next preacher!” It’s more likely that had John been in a church that appointed its preachers to pulpits, the Bishop would have gotten a phone call before the service concluded. But that’s John…calling the Pharisees and Sadducees a bunch of snakes!
But John was more than just a name caller. Matthew 3:1 says that he preached about repentance. What does repentance mean? The Greek word is “metanoia” which means “to think differently after.” In other words, we are called to think about what we just did and examine that act in light of God’s will. Did I act as God would have wanted me too? Most of the time this isn’t much of reflection, but sometimes things happen in life that cause us to deeply address ourselves and our actions. When we reflect and think differently about the future and we know in our hearts that what we did was not how God would want us to act, then we are repentant. The Pharisees and Sadducees had no room for such reflection. They knew they were right. When you are convinced that you are always right, there is no room for true reflection, only a façade of false piety. That’s one of the faults that researcher George Barna speaks of in his book, Building Your Church from the Outside In. We Christians are perceived by non-churched people to be hypocritical in that we point out others faults, but never address our own. Let me echo Barna’s thoughts, unfortunately too often they are right. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God and we must be humble in our own faith. As Christians we are flawed, yet we endeavor to honestly reflect and when needed “think differently.” Thus if we do so, others will see our lives change and know that we are living out our faith.
Remember that snake skin? John might have thought about those who act as snakes, they don’t change… they simply shed one skin and move right on with another one in the exact same pattern. God loves you and knows you “warts and all” and in a Christian community there are none who are perfect, only sinners who cry out for grace. This Christmas season find a church home where you might find a family of faith and give thanks to God for the grace shown to each of us in a child born in a manger, Jesus.
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