Colossians
3:17 - And whatever you do, in word
or in deed, do everything in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
I confess I was eavesdropping on a conversation that
a group of teenagers were having. No, I am not a stalker. But I realized a long
time ago that I could learn a lot about what young people think if I stand a
few feet away and just listen.
This particular conversation was between some
girls. They did not appear to be getting along very well. The conversation became
tense. One of the girls said “I’m not trying to be rude but . . .” and then
went on to say some things that were extremely rude. Her tone of voice, her
body language, and the words she used, were all very rude. She knew she was being
rude. Saying, “I’m not trying to be rude...” was merely a ploy for her to be
able to say whatever mean thing she wanted while pretending to be nice.
Though this particular incident involved teens,
I have heard similar things among adults. Far too often starting a sentence
with “I’m not trying to be rude but . . .” is just a thinly disguised way of
being rude. Such rudeness, thinly disguised as politeness, fools no one and
does not accomplish anything positive.
The world may treat each other that way, but
Christians should aspire to higher standards. Christians should aspire to treat
each other with dignity and respect as brothers and sisters in the family of
God. If we do not mean to be rude, then we should not be rude. If we realize we
are being rude, we should stop mid-sentence and apologize. We cannot continue
to be rude thinking that we are fooling others into believing that we are
polite. No one is fooled.
As Christians, everything we say and do should honor
Christ. Rudeness does not honor to the name of our Savior Jesus Christ,
especially rudeness poorly disguised as niceness.
Lord,
help us to treat people the way You would treat them. Amen.
This devotional is from the book “Heavenly
Mundane” by Dr. Terry W. Dorsett. Dr. Dorsett has been a pastor, church
planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more
than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring
grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully
through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of
his books at:
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