Why is it that the quiet ones, the behind-the-scenes ones, the not-as-social ones, are somehow deemed aloof and prideful while those carrying the very opposite traits go about in their heads justified?
Those with many friends, adults and children alike, are judged to be “well-adapted and adjusted,” while the thoughtful book readers, nature-explorers and non-“engagers” are somehow uncaring and not worthy of esteem.
But then a baby born in a manger or cave of some sort, who grew up in a lowly village, quietly learning and practicing a trade, arrives in our thoughts every year at Christmas.
Small, vulnerable, meek and mild, the baby, as an adult, continued to not stand out, to the point that when stirrings began around him, people scratched their heads and asked,
“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?”
Jesus went on to be a public speaker.
He was surrounded by people.
But he didn’t become their expectations.
He remained the humble, thoughtful man that he had been all of his life.
He surrounded himself with twelve close workers in the spreading of his Father’s message. He tapped into men of all stripes: loud, stubborn, energetic; but also quiet, unassuming, and serving so much in the background that people today struggle to remember some of their names.
Jesus purposely and trustingly “sent” them all, though. He didn’t leave any of the twelve out.
He used every quality they brought to the party, and never singled out one personality type as being worthier than others.
Jesus deflected fame, fortune, and popularity and didn't succumb to peer pressure to do what others expected and to be how other people so wished he would be.
He remained true to who he was, in spite of mockery and judgement.
In thirty-three years, Jesus grew up into the very man God intended. And because of that, sin was overcome and a place for each and every person ever born was made, not just on earth, but in heaven too.
Copyright Barb Harwood
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