Cultural Insult
Caution, this devotion has to do with, unintentional, cultural insults.
I was raised that the intention of the person was as important or more important than what was being said. This is clear from some of the entertainment from the 70s such as Archie Bunker, Blazing Saddles and lest you think it was only monochromatic, Good Times. All shows that today would not be tolerated. In fact, if you see reruns of these shows today, there will either be a warning that they may not be culturally appropriate or bleep out original dialog.
Today, we culturally review everything with, in my opinion, the assumption that something is wrong thus actively seeking problems. I am thinking of Aunt Jemima on the pancake mix, Dr. Seuss books and Walt Disney movies.
One Walt Disney movie, that I’ve never seen, is Song of the South. I’ve read children’s story of Brier Rabbit and I know the Zip-a-Dee-do-da song but that is as close as I’ve gotten to the movie.
We were visiting our son who lives in a town about the size of Lawrence (maybe a little smaller) and we went for coffee. You know one of those places that takes your name with the order and yells it out when your drink is ready. For whatever reason, I typically make up a name to give. I don’t have any reason other than I think it’s fun. One time I gave my name as Nebuchadnezzar - the counter person asked me how to spell it and I replied that however she spelled it would be fine with me.
Anyway, on this visit, I gave the name “Sambo.” How and why I used Sambo, I have no idea. It didn’t mean anything nor was anything implied by me. My son, a millennial, reacted negatively in that he believed it would be interpreted as racial in nature and reflect poorly on him in a, relatively, small community. As far as my intention, nothing could have been further from the truth.
“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” - 2 Peter 3:15-18 ESV
“…had I not feared provocation by the enemy, lest their adversaries should misunderstand, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is triumphant, it was not the Lord who did all this.’ For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them. If they were wise, they would understand this; they would discern their latter end!” - Deuteronomy 32:27-29
“Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” - John 8:43-47
I know…know…in this example, I did not mean to slander anyone but it made me wonder how many times do I take offense at something that the person had no intention of conveying?
