A Feather Pillow

You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. (Quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln)

That quote has been stuck in my head.
In one short sentence a biblical concept is presented.
Walking the walk and talking the talk.

How easy it is for us to sound spiritual.
How easy it is for us to have others look at our lives and marvel.
How easy it is for us to hide behind a Godly mask.

Others may never know.
But God does.
The fact that He hears and He sees should be enough to keep us in check.

Can the Cushite change his skin or a leopard its spots? If so, you might be able to do what is good, you who are instructed in evil. (Jeremiah 13:23)

We cannot hide forever.
Our true colors will inevitably come through.
No one can keep up a facade for long; you will be found out sooner or later.

We all have met people who are attractive on the outside.
As soon as they open their mouth, their beauty fades.
Perhaps it is their language or the inappropriate stories they tell.

We have all met people that everyone seems to like.
However, when you are part of their inner circle, you discover they have a poison tongue.
You see them lashing out and talking about people behind their backs.

The kind of person you could never imagine bad things about, is not what they seem.
Not until you hear it for yourself.
Your heart hurts to think that you have been fooled for so long.

Neighbors and co-workers know what someone is really like.
When you work with someone, the guard has to come down at some point.
When you live across the street or next door to someone, the real you is seen.

It is easy to have the appearance of godliness.
It is easy to make others feel as if they lack fervor in their spiritual walk compared to you.
But God knows the truth and has no time for hypocrisy.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

People get found out.
Someone inevitably overhears you when you talk about other people.
That should startle us; that should keep our tongue in check.

That type of person is difficult to know, down deep.
You never get to the bottom of their heart because the bottom is always changing.
Their chameleon-like behavior watches others’ reactions so they know how to respond.

It is like trying to catch a flopping fish.
Next to impossible since it moves about hither and yon and you cannot seem to grab hold.
But fish get caught eventually; there is always bait that lures.

An appearance of godliness might fool all of the people some of the time.
An appearance of godliness might fool some of the people all of the time.
An appearance of godliness will never fool God.

Talking bad about others reminds me of a fable.
It is a fable about a man who loved to tell stories about others.
Stories that he embellished to make them more interesting.

One day this man found out something about his colleague.
He felt compelled to share the story with coworkers.
The man who was the main character of the story found out.

He went to his boss and complained that he was ruined.
No one would want to do business with him any longer.
The boss wanted to meet with the talebearer.

The boss told the talebearer how his story had devastated the other man.
The talebearer defended himself by declaring that the story was true.
True or not, the boss wanted to teach him a valuable lesson.

Come back tomorrow and bring me a feather pillow.
The talebearer had no idea why a pillow was necessary.
He came back the next day with the pillow in hand.

Not cut open the pillow, the boss said handing him a pair of scissors.
The talebearer started to object but thought better of it.
He cut open the pillow and the feathers scattered about.

The feathers fell on the boss’ desk and chair, the bookcases, and clock.
The feathers wafted out of an open window.
Now collect every one of the feathers and put them back in the pillow.

But I can’t, the talebearer said.
I can collect the feathers in your office.
I cannot begin to collect the ones that wafted out of the window.

Exactly, the boss said.
You never know where a rumor will end up once it leaves your mouth.
The words fly on the wind and you can never get them back.

The talebearer had great remorse.
He apologized to the man about whom he spoke so nastily.
He apologized to all the people who heard him speak badly about someone else.

He learned to watch his tongue.
He learned to be gracious.
He always kept a feather pillow close by as a reminder.