I’ve written before about my appreciation for the lessons taught in “The Andy Griffith Show.” Yesterday, I saw one focused on Opie, Andy’s son, who is played by a young Ron Howard.
It seems Opie was showing off on his bicycle (to impress a girl) and wrecked. When he told his dad, Andy read him the riot act about using common sense and not doing dangerous things. At one point, he threatened to make Opie pay for it out of his allowance, which I’m pretty sure was 25¢ per week.
Opie decided to get a job so he could pay for the bike repair. He ended up in competition with another boy for a job at a grocery store. While both boys completed a trial week at the store, Andy would get reports and boast about how hard Opie was working to secure the job.
At the end of the show, Opie did something boneheaded to lose the job (I can’t include all the details). Andy was upset because of the pride he had expressed to others in Opie’s effort to secure the job. He sat Opie down to grill him about why he did the bonehead thing.
Opie explained he did it on purpose to ensure the other boy secured the job. He explained why he believed the other boy needed the job more than him. At the very end, Andy’s anger passed, and he told Opie how proud he was of him and that he was turning into a good man.
Andy realized when Opie was competing and winning, he had pride in being his father. When he thought Opie did a bonehead thing, that pride turned into anger because he worried Opie’s actions would impact Andy’s standing in the town.
“And he said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’” - Mark 7:20-23 ESV
To Andy’s credit, when Opie explained why he did what he did, that anger turned back into pride. Well, maybe not pride, but more like when you acknowledge the goodness in another person and don’t care what others think. This is what I think of when I think of others seeing the light in you.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 5:13-16
