“Its not easy being green.” Kermit the Frog
I’ve been thinking recently…what do you do when who you are offends others?
Imagine with me for a moment that the metaphorical greenness mentioned in this quote by Kermit represents spiritual piety. What if being holy was sometimes just as difficult for Christians, as being green can be for Kermit. Would the world be more patient with us then?
That’s the way life is for many Christians. Everyday!
Everyday they wake up ready to be Christian one more day. And every night, they go to bed wanting to be Christian again tomorrow. They know that identifying themselves as born again will mean trouble, and still they want to do it. Holiness is the color of the Christian life.
Personally speaking, being a Christian brings me some of the most satisfying moments in life. It also creates some of the greatest difficulties, as I walk through the minefield that is my relationship to others. My problem: Non-Christians, new Christians, marginally faithful Christians and uneducated Christians who see me as harsh, judgmental and overbearing. Don’t believe me? Just ask yourself how you feel about that last sentence. Anyone flirting with sin or rejecting salvation will read that last sentence and say, “Oh my word, who does she think she is?”
That’s right…they think I ought to get off my “high horse” and shut up.
It doesn’t matter what topic we’re talking about or how others might address it, when I bring my faith to bear on the subject at hand, people recoil. They roll their eyes (either literally or more often figuratively), and no matter how hard I try to be sympathetic, or how long I sit and listen to their view point, when I finally state my case, they feel bad. Doesn’t matter that what I’m saying didn’t originate with me; they’re miffed!
I know intellectually that those opposed to the truth roll their eyes because my faith (or the way I see the world because of my faith), has a convicting effect on them. It slices through the emotionally charged air between us like a two-edged sword seeking flesh, sinew, and even bone, if that were possible. With deadly force, it cuts to the quick, slicing away every worldly notion of safety and autonomy, purposefully dividing, bludgeoning, and severing as it goes. We are God’s creation and he has placed a seal upon us. Realizing that they were bought at a price, my critics cringe, painfully aware that the Master is watching and they’ve been caught being naughty children.
Jim Henson created Kermit the Frog. Jim Henson made Kermit green. Kermit didn’t get to choose his color. Jim Henson did that for him. Jesus makes Christians holy. The difference between Kermit and the earnest Christian is that You can refuse to be holy. Kermit can’t refuse to be green. Refusing to cooperate with your Maker comes at a price, though. To refuse to be green, Kermit must give up being Kermit. To refuse to be Holy, we must give us being Christians. It’s that simple.
The next time a Christian speaks to you words that are convicting, painful and true, you might want to think about what it cost him or her to share that truth with you. It’s not easy being green. Neither is it easy speaking truth to a wayward soul. Thank God for the prophets in your life. They are the ones on the wall shouting out warnings of impending doom. Rejecting their message might mean rejecting the One who put the message in their mouths. And that’s a whole lot worse than being green. That’s being stupid!
