Whispers (Friday Devotional)

“And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.””

- Mark 2:15-17

My 16-month old son is, in many regards, fearless. People don’t scare him—he’s never met a stranger to whom he didn’t want to smile and wave. Heights don’t scare him—in fact, his favorite thing in the world these days is climbing stairs. And as for spiders and ants and other creepy crawlies? Well, on a hike a few days ago, he picked up a caterpillar and threw it aside with a giggle, so I’d say bugs don’t exactly intimidate him.

The only thing that consistently upsets him, from the time he was an infant until today, is loud noises. Whether it’s the hair dryer, the vacuum cleaner, the power drill, or the trash truck, thunderous noise guarantees that a wide-seyed little boy will be clutching your pant leg. Should the sound continue or, heaven forbid, get louder and closer to him, tears aren’t out of the question. For all his fearlessness in other areas, he melts in the face of loud noises. Chances are, he’ll grow out of that as he gets bigger. But if he’s like most of us, his fear of loud noises will ultimately be replaced by its opposite: the fear of whispers.

That’s because for adults, few things seem to be as paralyzing as the idea that someone is judging you, criticizing you, and gossiping about you behind your back. The very prospect of being whispered about is crippling; your worries about their whispers can completely change how you behave. How many times have you refused to take action because you worried about what other people might say? How many times have you bowed to the wishes of the murmuring masses because you couldn’t bear the thought of their judgment falling on you?

No one is immune to the whispers of the crowd, including Jesus. When he chose to share meals with “many tax collectors and sinners,” a group who decent people didn’t dare be seen with, it didn’t go unnoticed. The God-fearing, law-abiding scribes and Pharisees responded to Jesus’s actions the same way that God-fearing, law-abiding people unfortunately still tend to respond today—they started whispering about him behind his back.

But where we often allow whispers to drive us away from risky compassion, Jesus would have no part of such fearfulness. Given the choice between saving his reputation or saving people, in his mind there was no choice at all. Jesus countered whispers of judgment with acts of kindness; he fought gossipy condemnation with grace and truth.

If you will place your faith in his righteousness instead of your reputation, valuing his gospel over your pride, then you can do the same. There are people in your community, your office, your family, and your church who need someone to take a chance on them, for someone to worry more about them than about the whispers. If you will cast your insecurities and doubts aside, that person can be you. In Jesus’s name, may you respond to murmurs of judgment with thunderous grace.