Where Honor Is Due (Day 4)
Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. ––1 Peter 2:17, NKJV
One of my favorite scenes in Band of Brothers is when Major Winters runs into his old nemesis, Captain Sobel, the man who made Winters’ life miserable during basic training. Both men are now gripped in the intense days following D Day, pressing the advantage against the Nazis. Maj. Winters has now eclipsed Cpt. Sobel in both rank and stature, and for it, Sobel hates him. So much so that when Sobel walks past him, he does not salute him (as he should).
Winters calls out Sobel and says: “Captain Sobel, you salute the rank, not the man.”
Whether it’s your boss, the “inept” ump at your daughter’s softball game, or the police officer who pulls you over for going 30 in a 25 zone, as God’s men we need to remember Major Winters’ words: We salute (i.e., honor, respect) the rank (position) when we struggle to respect the man or woman (in his or her condition).
Look, I get it. There is no shortage of rudeness and disrespect in our culture, which makes it really hard to bite one’s tongue, swallow the saucy comeback, and take the higher position. No, it does not mean we let people roll over us. But for far too long, men have mistaken kindness (born from knowing our position in Christ) for weakness (being misjudged for taking the higher road in a prickly situation).
The beautiful thing about notching decades off your life calendar is that you get time to make mistakes and (the best part!) grow from them. It gets easier to turn the other cheek IF we keep our focus fixed on our position rather than our condition. Don’t let the enemy fool you into thinking that verbal attacks, low blows, and harsh words toward those who have wronged you make you the “stronger” person. Rather than screaming at the men about to stone the woman caught in adultery, Jesus knelt in the sand and doodled (well, we don’t know what he wrote—probably something profound). He then stood up and said, “He among you who is without sin can cast the first stone.” That’s quiet strength. That’s working the situation from position.
Father, it’s really hard for me to not lash out at the “fools in this world.” Please give me patience in my position!
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See John 8.