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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Political Correctness (PC) is not a new thing, but it appears to me that the blight has grown stronger than I have ever witnessed it. We live in a culture in which virtually every public figure (actors, athletes, politicians, etc., etc.) has to have a “handler” to keep them straight. One wrong word, or for that matter, even one perceived wrong word has been known to abruptly end the rise of a super star. I thank God that Jesus was not beset by this burden; He called it like it was and let the chips fall where they may! Today's focus text deals with an event where a Gentile woman, had she been insistent on Political Correctness, would have missed one of life's greatest blessings.
“From there He [Jesus] arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, 'Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.' And she answered and said to Him, 'Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.' Then He said to her, 'For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.' And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed. (Mark 7.24-30).
Follow carefully the dialogue and the events surrounding it. Note that the woman “...kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.” First, she was a woman – Strike one! Next, she was a Gentile – Strike two! Finally, she was a person who apparently had gone to the head of her class in assertiveness training. Perhaps it would have been strike three under any other circumstance – but not with Jesus! In response to her continued insistence that her daughter be healed, Jesus said, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” He, a Jew, was being asked by a Gentile woman to impart a very special favor to her. His response was one that reflected the prevailing mood of the day; in the figure he chose, she could have surmised that He was calling her a dog and her children little dogs! However, she would have been wrong! And her daughter would have been destined to continue to suffer her lamentable situation!
However, Jesus was not calling her a dog, and He was not calling her children little dogs. Rather, by reflecting the popular sentiment of the day, He was testing the strength of her faith as well as her motives for asking Him to heal her daughter. She could have taken umbrage at His statement and reacted with justifiable anger – but she didn't. Possibly everyone around her would have reacted with the same indignation and mirrored her feelings saying, “I just can't believe He is talking to her that way!” However, she did not care nearly so much about Political Correctness as she did about receiving the blessing she desired. Her faith was strong enough to see through the words and see the heart of the man who was speaking to her. Because of that faith and the pure motives that accompanied it, she was told, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.”
It is truly a grace to be able to choose the battles that really matter. Life is so much easier when we refuse to wear a chip on our shoulder – even when it is the popular thing to do! How much better it would be if we would learn to see past the words and look at the heart and motives of others in our lives. That approach then reciprocated by others would revolutionize human relations instantly!
Questions:
1. What three things were strikes against the woman who begged Jesus to heal her daughter?
2. What sinister motives might she have had in approaching Him? How did He test her motives? If she merely wanted to hurt or embarrass Him, how might she have reacted to His words?
3. As she stood face to face with Jesus, what evidence did she have that her daughter had been healed?
4. Taking today's message to heart, what one thing can each of us do to change the attitudes about us from angry and reactive to pleasant and proactive for good?
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