the irony of the orange juice

Gimli's Fear, part 2.2

Things aren’t always what they seem. New Year's eve, the entire neighborhood was out in the cul-de-sac setting off fireworks and visiting. There was a table set up in the neighbor’s driveway, covered with munchies and beverages. Will, making himself at home, eventually visited the table to quench his thirst. He spied a pitcher of orange juice, poured himself a cup, and commenced to take a “swig”. It wasn’t just orange juice, he learned. Will became very somber the rest of the evening. I think he was surprised that I wasn’t upset with him. But he was upset and worried about what affect his inadvertent consumption might have on him both in the moment and in the future. I explained that his character couldn’t be marred by something that he did unintentionally.

Here is a risk that we have to take in order to be in the world but not of it. If we are willing to associate with people so that they might see that we’re associated with Jesus, we might get a little dirty sometimes. We have to learn to let God guard our hearts and desires and realize that it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, because these things come from the heart. It seems to me that we can be defiled by speaking against those to whom we should be going more easily than we can be defiled by being around those same people.

How, then, do we avoid the appearance of evil? What about how things look to our Christian brothers and sisters? We usually hear that "appearance of evil" in this context. We certainly don't want to give the impression to them that we are sinning. But to avoid being around those who need to see the light of Jesus in us to appear clean to our own is not the answer. Somehow we've come to think that the world will see us as set apart if they don't see us. We think that we make a statement whenever we are conspicuously absent from an event at which they are present. But they can't see us not sinning unless they can see us. If we claim that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world, why are we so sure that he that is in the world will nab us as soon as we step out? I'm not saying that we should go around making everyone think we're bad. But we've got to stop using it as an excuse for failing to follow Christ's example. In order for Jesus to be a light in the darkness, He had to go into the darkness. He was constantly being accused of evil by the religious people. But don't you think that the sinners with whom He associated noticed the difference in Him?

The next morning when Will told Allison about his swig, he made an interesting observation. “It’s ironic dad (yes, he understands irony), O’Doul’s looks like beer but is not alcoholic, but my swig looked like orange juice, but WAS alcoholic.” How do we discern what things appear bad but are harmless and what things appear harmless but will ruin us? How do we overcome our fear of situations that shouldn’t affect us but hamper our calling? How do we avoid being overcome by the things that don’t even raise an eyebrow, but will gnaw away at us unnoticeably until we are morally bereft?

I would never send my child into a dangerous social situation alone. It is important that I be there to help him. Jesus does not send us into the world alone. He is there with us. His Holy Spirit is there to fill us and allow us to impact our world while guarding us against it. Jesus, Himself, prayed for us, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one… As You sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”