By Danny Minton

In one of her writings, Marguerite Bro tells the story of a minister who took a young child to the circus. There was a clown in the center ring, dressed very dignified with a nice hat. When the clown bowed to a beautiful lady, the hat fell off, and the elephant sat on it. The clown, upset that this had happened, went behind the elephant and tried to push him off the hat to no avail. When this didn’t work, he became angry and kicked the elephant. The elephant did not budge; however, the clown limped away with a sore toe. With one last effort, the clown turned to the elephant and tried to lift him off his hat again, but the elephant wouldn’t budge. 

Frustrated and upset, the clown walked to another part of the ring and sat down. He pulled out a bag of peanuts, and when he did, the elephant got up and walked over to the clown, begging for a peanut. The hat was freed. 

Unfortunately, the clown’s reactions are much like those of people today. People complain and gripe about all sorts of things. Stores have “complaint departments,” and even online, there is a place where people can leave comments. Many of the comments today are simply rants and raves about something that has upset someone. 

People don’t like something, and instead of sitting down and working things out, they get angry, kicking and screaming to be heard. Individuals throw tantrums and become upset when they don’t get their way. We throw a fit with our spouse, children, parents, co-workers, and people we don’t even know. In the end, much like the clown, we go over, sit down, and pout about what we didn’t accomplish.

It appears that in today’s society, people are being led to hate those who disagree with them and to follow their own ideas rather than learning to love and accept those whose lives and values differ from ours. We spend a lot of time passing judgment on others without knowing the entire situation. Even as Christians, we often don’t approach people and life the way Christ expects, becoming judgmental without letting the love Christ taught guide us.

One of my favorite movie quotes comes from the movie “Rudy.” The young football player, Rudy, has been trying to get accepted to Notre Dame and has come to the point that if he doesn’t get accepted, he won’t have a chance to play football there. He is sitting in the church sanctuary when a priest approaches him. He asks the priest, “Have I done everything I possibly can? Can you help me?”  The priest answers him, “Son, in thirty-five years of religious studies, I’ve come up with only two hard, incontrovertible facts: There is a God and I’m not Him.”

In a little over a week, I will reach my 78^th birthday. My dad passed when he was 93. I figure that if I live as long as he did, I have about 15 more years, plus or minus, to live in this world. I hope to live these years with those thoughts from the movie. I’ll let God be the judge. I’m not the one who has all the answers about life; God is. I’m not the one to pass judgment on others; Jesus told us not to. I’m not the one to decide who God lets into heaven; He does.

However, I am told to share the love of Christ with a lost world. I am the one to show God’s grace and mercy to others like He shows to me. I am the one to show forgiveness even toward my enemies. I am the one to hold in my heart and being, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Those are the things Jesus taught. By living this way, we will bring more people together than the division caused by hate, violence, and intolerance.

So, next time you are tempted to get mad, kick and scream at the elephant in the room, stop, walk away, and sit down. Then quietly offer a gentle hand of kindness. You may be surprised how treating others with love and respect will bring you both closer together.

Danny Minton is a former Elder and minister at Southern Hills Church of Christ