Judging a Book By Its Cover

We have ALL done it! We have all seen, heard, or glanced at something or someone and made a snap judgement. In the grocery, we look for the unblemished, the freshest, undented, perfectly made item. We never pick up the item with a blemish or bruise if we can help it. No dented cans or smashed boxes for me. In the library or the book store, we are first attracted by the cover. We don’t won’t the one that has been handled a thousand times and is torn or dirty. It is almost ingrained into our DNA. It is also rooted in our sinfulness. We make judgements all the time and almost without ever thinking about it. As an elementary teacher, I saw kids doing the same thing. They always wanted the newest, the best looking, so I did an experiment. I found 3 books of the same title but all of them were in various conditions of wear. I held them all up and took a vote on which one they wanted me to read. Most all picked the “new one”. I read the first page and put it down. Then, I picked up another and read the first page and put it down, and I finally read the first page of the most worn out. They immediately said, “they are all the same”. I then used it as an object lesson about making judgements. The one worn out and kind of dirty looking, was one well-loved and had been read by many. I told them that sometimes the oldest or most worn out simply means it has been handled a little rough and carried around a lot more but was loved by many. We are the same!

I sound like a country bumpkin. I’ve known it my whole life. It’s not the cultured, southern drawl you think about when someone says they are from the Carolinas or The South. It’s the hillbilly, redneck sound that, when people hear it, immediately think uneducated, poor, unsophisticated. In college, one of my roommates was so enamored by my voice she would make me talk just so her “other” friends could hear me. She was a big-city girl. As I was getting my education degree, my supervisor told me I said “okay” and “y’all” too much. She was right. They judged me by the sound of my voice. They didn’t know I could drive a tractor, plow, run a bush hog, sew, cook, or a hundred other things that they could not do. They were judging me just by my voice. Same thing happened to a set of twins I knew. One was very “country” sounding and was treated as such. They both graduated at the top of their class. We all learned to be who God made us to be even when we were discounted or picked on. Our judgments should always consider the heart.

My daddy always said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That’s very true but what it doesn’t say is that first impressions may not be all there is to see. Maybe the heart is in a different place than “you” think. We as Christians must use God’s word to make our judgements. We must be careful to not entertain Satan and to not “throw our pearls before swine”. We must be careful to not turn away those in need or in pain or dirty or those whose heart is in a delicate place, searching for God’s love. We must be the voice and face of God where possible, for the Bible tells us that we were all created in His image (Genesis 1:27). Should we judge? Absolutely, but only by using God’s word as our measuring stick. Our words, our dress, our actions, and our reactions to situations, and the company we keep paint our own book-cover that all can see.

Dear God, cause us to hold our tongue, guard our thoughts and see you when we look upon others. Help us to show kindness and love without making snap judgements that don't consider the heart. Amen