A Look in the Mirror

The mirror in my bathroom had always portrayed a very confident, capable, accomplished, kind, Christian individual. (There is probably a reason they call it the vanity!) Yet at the jail I came to see that, in so many ways, I was not the kind, loving Christian I meant to be. They had no idea they did it, but the women at the jail provided a mirror in which I finally came to see myself a bit more clearly.

For so long, I spent my time with people who were like me, and they also reflected this confident, capable, kind Christian. I wanted to believe it, and so I did. I think it was a bit like the emperor who wore no clothes. Everyone around him told him they were such fine clothes, so he had no idea he was naked! In this fable, it was a child who said, “But he hasn’t got anything on.” These women at the jail didn’t exactly tell me I was “naked,” but as Colossians 3:12 became more real to me, I realized I had better make a change of wardrobe if I was to be clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience!

It is not that these women necessarily confronted me directly or pointed out my flaws point blank. But rather, indirectly, they shared their experience with the church—with the Christians they had met—and I began to see myself through their eyes. It broke my heart to hear how we made them feel. How they felt unwelcome in so many churches, how they felt judged and unworthy. How they read of love and generosity and hospitality in the Bible yet had experienced none of this from those who called themselves Christians.

It seems they didn’t care so much if we had served Swedish meatballs at the Fall Festival; their fridge was empty once again. It didn’t seem to matter if we had the most amazing talent show to raise funds for our mission trip to repair the orphanage in Jamaica; their pipes had frozen in their trailer on W. 12th Street. They wouldn’t know anything of our warm welcome of the young couple that was doing mission work for Wycliffe in Papua New Guinea; we had made it pretty clear they wouldn’t be welcome in our little church with their tattoos and revealing clothes.

I didn’t want it to be true . . . especially of me. I think I tried to wipe at the mirror, scrub off the steam from the shower. Surely this reflection of me wasn’t accurate?! But if I was honest, it was. I had been quick to judge, slow to love. I had thought I was somehow better than them. I had drawn lines, boundaries, inclusion/exclusion criteria. Who would be welcome, who would not. Not overtly, of course, but in my heart.

In the book of James, we read, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like” (James 1:22–24 NIV). I have read this to mean that, if we look in the mirror and see that we have something stuck in our teeth, we don’t merely go on without doing something about it. We pick at it until we get it out! No one would just shrug their shoulders and move on, heading out the door with a chunk of food stuck in their teeth! And yet, how often do we do that with God’s Word? We do our Bible studies, learn all these things. But are we doing what it says? When it says love your neighbor . . . are we doing it? When it says to welcome strangers . . . are we doing it? When it says feed the hungry and clothe the poor . . . are we doing it? (Not, “Are we paying our taxes for social welfare programs?” The question is, are we doing it?!)

I don’t know if we just skipped over some of the hard (convicting) passages—or if I was arrogant enough to think they didn’t include me. But it was like the scales had fallen from my eyes and there they were, staring me in the face. You see, I knew the verses about not drinking too much, about working hard, about fidelity, about gathering together, and about studying the Word. I was passing these with flying colors, which made it that much easier to point fingers at “them.” But then, there these passages were. It was as if they leaped off the page.

The one from Ezekiel: “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49 NIV).

Ouch. That one hit pretty close to home.

The one from Matthew: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21 NIV).

Yikes. It seems there is much more to it than simply claiming to be Christian.

These, and so many others. Convicting, for sure. So, I am grateful for the mirror I found in those women at the jail. The emperor was no less naked before someone told him, and I was no less guilty before I looked into a more honest mirror. Like James infers, sometimes you need a mirror to see what you need to fix. I’ve got some work to do!

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved,

clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,

humility, gentleness and patience.”

Colossians 3:12 NIV

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.

Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does

not do what it says is like someone who looks at his

face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes

away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”

James 1:22-24 NIV

“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom:

She and her daughters were arrogant,

overfed and unconcerned; they did

not help the poor and needy.”

Ezekiel 16:49 NIV

 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter

the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who

does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

Matthew 7:21 NIV