Different: A 3-Day Devotional by Building 429's Jason RoyExemplo

It seems to me we don’t see very clearly at all these days. Two years ago, I bought a brand new 4K TV for our living room. When I tell you that I was STOKED, it’s the understatement of the century. I remember bringing it into the living room, setting it up, and turning it on, only to be flat out disappointed. I actually walked out of the living room to another room in the house to look at the old TV only to find that I didn’t see much of a difference at all. Over time we would have friends and family over to the house for dinner or a movie and they’d always talk about how amazing it looked, and I just couldn’t understand. I literally said, “I don’t know, it looks just like the other one to me,” and they’d all laugh and tell me I was crazy. 

Fast-forward a few months and I had to go to the doctor to get my medical card for my commercial driver’s license (a license that allows me to drive our tour bus) and part of the test was the vision test, which I FAILED. I couldn’t believe it! I was actually distraught. I mean, my dad always called me an “eagle eye” when I was a kid. I set up an appointment with an eye doctor and within a few minutes and a few clicks of his weird machine, I was seeing clearly again. As I was walking out the door, I told the doctor, “Gosh, it must be that I’m getting older.” He laughingly said, “No man, you’ve got an astigmatism, and you’ve had it your whole life. Get ready, you’re about to see like you’ve never seen before.” I was dumbfounded. I was a great athlete! I had passed test after test! But let me tell you, I knew he was telling the truth when I saw the leaves on the trees outside his office the first time. It was incredible. Think about it though; I had spent 38 years thinking I saw the world perfectly. Now, after one visit to the eye doctor, I realized how much I had missed. (Side note: How much better of a basketball player would I have been if I’d had contacts??) But I also feel like something else has recently changed with my vision.

In Luke 15:1-7 Jesus is confronted by Pharisees, who were upset that He would dare to care for the tax collectors and “sinners.” Jesus went on to share an incredible story:

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

What if I told you sometimes you have to leave the 99 to go care for the one that was left behind? In this world of people who feel disenfranchised, we as believers should be the first to stand beside them and offer our love. We need to be the olive branch. It’s not our responsibility to be angry at the one who has left, even if we believe their predicament is of their own doing. After all, haven’t we all been there? When I think about my life, I think about the countless times that I’ve been offered a hand that I didn’t deserve—when I was angry and kindness helped me overcome, when I was broken and mercy met me where I was. Brothers and sisters, we are called to be different, not just for the publicity, but because it’s exactly what Christ chose to do over and over again. He was the last to judge, the first to love, and he always chose to be an advocate for those who were in fact, different. What if we chose to do the same?

Wouldn’t that be DIFFERENT?

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