Looks Can Be Deceiving

As a girl, I used to go Christmas caroling.
Thanks to social media, an old picture resurfaced as evidence.
It also brought those of us in the picture back together again.
We each knew the whereabouts of someone else in the group.

The moment from all those years ago is now frozen in time.
I remember going back to one of the older girl’s house.
Her mother had hot chocolate and cookies waiting for us.
One picture brought back a flood of memories.

Someone posted a video that impacted me greatly.
As you watch, your own judgments emerge front and center.
As you watch you know how the video will end.
At least you think you do.

A group of five young men are seen, wearing dark clothes and hoodies.
They are walking together down the middle of the street.
You begin to imagine all sorts of things.
They walk up to a lovely home and approach the door.

One of them appears to be doing something to the door itself.
They all stand there at the bottom of the steps just waiting.
The homeowner opens the door a crack.
The homeowner and the young men were different races.

One of the young men reached inside his hoodie.
The homeowner quickly closes the door.
As you watch the video, you have already made a judgment.
You are sure of the outcome.

At least you think you are.

The young man that reached into his hoodie pulls out a pitch pipe.
He gives the first note.
In perfect harmony, the young men sing a cappella.
They begin to sing, The Little Drummer Boy.

The homeowner opens her door, not believing what she is hearing.
She comes outside and is touched by the performance before her.
You can tell that a million thoughts are going through her head.
You see unbelief and a bit of remorse in her face.

She judged by appearances.
She judged wrongly.

What the young man did to the door is now apparent.
He put a small camera above the door to capture her perspective as they sang to her.
The video is designed to set you up.
In the end, you know that you have been had.

The video makes you check your own heart.
It makes you think about why you thought the things you did.
It makes you wonder about how you arrived at your conclusion.
The video makes you think.

The video set out to prove a point.
Why were the people of different color?
Each group could have been purple or polka dotted and the result would have been the same.
Differences make us skeptical.

Even if we think we are past that, we are not.
We assess.
We judge.
We come to the table with our own prejudices and presuppositions.

It is not a pretty picture.
It shows us the worst of ourselves.
The words above the video says it all.
Looks can be deceiving.

They sure can!
The person that posted the video posed a question as an introduction.
How many gifts do we each miss out on because of prejudice and judgment?
How many indeed?

My husband loves to cycle all around our county.
One day on a country road a girl who was our daughter’s age had a flat tire.
My husband stopped and offered to help her.
She was still in her car and had only opened the window a crack when he approached.

She thanked him but refused his help and closed her car window.
When my husband came home and told us the story, he was perplexed.
Our daughters began to giggle.
Dad, go look at  yourself in the mirror.

He went into the foyer and came back with the same look of confusion.
Did you look like that when you stopped to help her? one of the asked him.
Dad, you’re wearing your tactical hood.
Would you want us to open the car door to someone wearing a tactical hood?

Then he got it.
It was cold outside and he had this extra bit of warmth under his bike helmet.
He knew that his motives were pure.
He is a father who would have wanted someone to help one of his daughters.

However, looks can be deceiving.
The young girl made a judgment call and decided that she should stay in her car.
Before she closed the window she mentioned that she had called her father.
My husband left assuming that help would arrive shortly.

How many gifts do we each miss out on because of prejudice and judgment?

Of course, we have to be safe.
Of course, we don’t want to do anything foolish.
We need to be aware of our surroundings and act accordingly.
However, we often judge based on appearances; we really do.

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)

How many blessings are disguised in a different kind of package?
What presuppositions do we allow to creep into our thoughts, sabotaging those blessings?
On what do we base our judgments?
How often are we wrong?

God is never wrong in His judgments.
God always sees through the clothes, the demeanor, and the attitude.
God sees straight through to the heart.
How thankful we should be that He does.

To view the video, click here.

2 responses to “Looks Can Be Deceiving”

1. I have seen this type of thing happen to my son in law.. We do prejudge and it definitely shows us where our heart is…Thanks for sharing Gina.

   Reply

   • Janet,
     We are all guilty of this from time to time for various reasons. I don’t think any of us realize the terrible harm and hurt it causes. How we need to see others with God’s perspective.
     Gina

     Reply