first impressions

My first thought was, "Serves them right." And then I engaged my brain.

Servant Leader, how many times do we find ourselves indignant, justified, cheering with the masses when some overzealous individual or 'unscrupulous' company "gets theirs" in the court of public opinion?

I'm talking about the alleged $5B value hit Anheuser-Busch took last week over the whole transgender sponsorship debacle. How many Christians stood up and said "Yeah! Take that!" I mean, the amount of social and mainstream media coverage this issue has gotten has got to be on par with a presidential election or at least the Chinese spy balloon, right? And, if I'm honest, my first thought when I read the headline was, "They should'a stuck with their customer base on this one." I mean, I'm a bit ignorant on the whole beer marketing thing, but is there a large transgender beer drinking population?

I admit, I'm not a beer drinker, nor am I a fan of normalizing gender dysphoria; however, I am a huge fan of repaying God's grace with a little grace of my own. I've cited this passage a few times in past blogs, but I'll cite it again.

"So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." (Jas 1:19-20, NKJV)

There you have it, Servant Leader. Does God know us, or what? Let me paraphrase this one in my colloquial WV Hillbilly accent, "Since y'all tend to talk before you think, take a breath, ruminate on it a bit, then, if it still makes sense, go ahead and say it. If not, it's probably a good thing you didn't put your foot in your mouth in the first place."

For the more sophisticated of us, God recognizes that we have base instincts built by years of influence and constant worldly pounding on our souls. Because of this, He recommends - no, He directs us to take a breath and consider the impact of our words. Those of us who haven't reached Sainthood yet need that breath to check our attitude and get our Spirit in the right place. Remember, a thought without action may be the precursor of sin, but a thoughtless action bears the curse of sin.

Don't let your first impression be the lasting impact, especially if you have been quick to speak, slow to hear, or quick to wrath.

Photo: Courtesy of YouTube