Almost Right

It caught my eye as I drove down the bypass.
It was a very odd looking tree.
On further inspection, it was not a tree at all.
It was a cell phone tower disguised as a tree.

I had never seen anything like it; thinking that it looked more absurd than realistic.
Researching it later, I found that there are towers made to look like Douglas Firs, cactus, and even pineapples.

Everyone wants to use cell phones but no one seems to want the towers in their backyard.
Besides being an eyesore to some, others worry about health risks.
The telecommunications companies came up with a seemingly ingenious idea.
To make the tower look like something it is not.

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit, you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matthew 7:15-19)

In our society, there are many wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Things that look just fine, but upon further inspection something is just not right.
It is easier to see true evil for what it is.
It is the gray areas, the ambiguous circumstances, that are the most difficult to discern.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.

It is the almost right that ensnares.
It is the almost right that seems harmless enough.
It is the almost right that are the “respectable” sins.

It makes me think of a chilling a short story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson.
A small town, of about 300 people, holds an annual ritual to ensure a good harvest.
Randomly, one person is chosen to be stoned to death by the town.

The town begins their selection process about 10:00 in the morning so they can be finished before lunchtime. A slip of paper is drawn by the head of the household. If that slip of paper has a black spot on it, everyone in that family must pick a slip of paper in the second round. The family member who gets a slip of paper with the black spot the second time around is the one who will be stoned to death.

People that were friends minutes before will pick up a rock along with everyone else.
It is “conformity gone mad,” said one review when the story was published in 1948.
People that never would do such a thing on their own, took on the mentality of the group.

A dangerous thing.
A chilling tale that sent the New Yorker magazine, in which the article was published, into a chaos; subscriptions were cancelled and hate mail received.

Wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Fictional people who took on the manic persona of the crowd.

Unfortunately, not totally fiction.
History recounts the annihilation of people, the mass killings, the going along.

Jesus answered, “You would have no power over Me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement…”Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take Him away! Take Him away! Crucify Him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed Him over to them to be crucified. (John 19:11-16)

Mob mentality.
Wolves in sheep’s clothing.
The chief priests knew better; they also knew which of Pilate’s buttons to push.
You are no friend of Caesar; the perfect thing to say to get the action they wanted.
By all appearances they were doing the right thing when their motives were not right at all.

Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong.
It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.

Cell phone towers that look like trees, but upon further inspection…
Wolves that look like sheep, but upon further inspection…
Almost right is a dangerous thing.

 

 

2 responses to “Almost Right”

1. I’ve always loved a quote from Elizabeth Elliot about choosing between good, better and best. Now this quote is going to the top. Discerning the right from the almost right….. Wow.

   Reply

   • Marcie,
     This quote has been helpful to me as well. The gray areas are the most difficult!
     I miss you and look forward to studying the Word with you in Bible study…soon!
     Gina

     Reply