Now In 3D!

II Corinthians 5:16 -- "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view."

The din of hundreds of voices trying to communicate in loud whispers. The smell of hot, fresh popcorn. The stickiness of the floor as you try to find your seat in the dark. All of these things make up the movie going experience. For the most part - they are enjoyable [well, all but the sticky floor, part]. And -- as we walk past the large trash can overflowing with cardboard drink holders, bent straws, and crushed paper cups, there is a bin for the return of your borrowed 3D glasses. The latest thing in film making is 3D. It would seem that no one can come up with a really good NEW movie idea - so to make their summer blockbuster money - Hollywood and the cinema powers that be re-release a bunch of stuff with an additional 3D feature. Perhaps the gimmick will make up for the fourteen dollar price tag. [though, I find it usually doesn't].

Eyes somewhat shakily focused on the huge screen I tell myself that I'm seeing this film in a new light. I keep sending my brain subtle little reminders that the colors pop, the sound is crystal, and the film is much better [or at least new] as the thrumming behind my forehead slowly but surely turns into a migraine.

The truth is, no matter WHAT I tell my brain, I can't stand to see this picture - so enjoyable the first time it came out - in it's "new", shiny packaging. I keep seeing the movie the way it used to be. The same colors. The same undercurrent of beautifully written music. The same characters. It's not a new film. It's just an old one trying to relive it's former glory and earn a few more dollars before it's returned to the "iffy" world of the discount DVD bin at my local Wal-mart.

It occurs to me that I do the same thing to people.

No matter the time that has gone by - or the huge amounts of water accumulated under the bridge - there are some people that look the same to me today, as they did twenty or thirty years ago. I refuse to let that all-healing wonder of time take the sting out of some past experiences. And, in some cases - I refuse to see the new packaging in which they are now wrapped up. I see the same old personality, the same old behavior patterns, the same old, same old.

What if other people did that to me? What if .... the church at Corinth did the same thing to Paul? He would probably be turned away at the church door - if not stoned to death for his part in the torture and destruction of so many followers of Jesus Christ.

The thing is -- we really ARE a new creation when Jesus cleans us white. I don't want others to remember me only for my past transgressions or for the mistakes I've made. I should give others the same grace.

When addressed in some pretty harsh language from a person we work with, or play with, or just pass by -- do we see the pain behind the anger? Do we see that they might be in great need? Do we see the pan-handler on the side of the interstate in disgust? Or do we reach deep within ourselves and pull out a little bit of the mercy that God so freely bestowed upon us? Do we make comments cloaked in thinly veiled whispers about a fellow church-goer that has slipped and fallen all while we look down our noses? Or do we reach out gracefully with encouragement and gentle guidance?

Paul put it so plainly, and yet packed it with so much punch.  From now one, we regard NO ONE, from a worldly point of view. If I could just borrow a fraction of the lenses through which Jesus looks at my fellow man, perhaps I would be more graceful. More compassionate.

Perhaps -- I could even see the desperation of the hour as I'm washed over with the image so many lost souls who have yet to be saved -- while the clock is ticking, ticking, ticking.