PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 11

What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?

“Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” (Matthew 11:19)
Jesus is frustrated with the people who are responding to him.
They accused John of being too ascetic, and Jesus of being too worldly.
But what he sees childish behaviour, kids singing a kids song.
In other words, they are not seeking wisdom but playing games.
Do we as christians play the same game when we encounter different views?
Do we right away point out what we don’t like, and call our opponents names?
We dismiss people who question traditional faith as liberals or revisionists.
We dismiss people who challenge newer ideas as close-minded traditionalists.
Wisdom goes deeper than the surface reaction, to discern if there is truth.
There is wisdom is John’s ascetism, and in Jesus’s generous hospitality.
There is wisdom in the perspective of tradition, and in post-modern critique.
But if we only act like children in the marketplace, we won’t hear it.
Time will tell where wisdom lies, and it won’t be in our words but in our deeds.
“Wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” (Matthew 11:19)
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, help me to move beyond the name-calling to hear the wisdom that is speaking to me in the people I disagree with.