Chapel Blog
Wandering Through WorldWonder: Chapters 8 & 9
I’m sure we can all easily come up with examples of someone trying to do the right thing but doing it in completely the wrong way. Perhaps we’d also admit we’re guilty of it sometimes.
I think of the difference between the polite Miami tap on the horn to let someone know the light has turned verses laying on the horn while tailgating the person halfway to the next light. Or, maybe, leveraging Chat GPT to seed some ideas for an essay that you then write vs. simply cutting and pasting the essay that Chat GPT spits out for you.
These, of course, are relatively lighthearted scenarios, but it can get dicey pretty quickly. Emerson Egrich, for example, wrote a book about marriage titled, Love and Respect. In it he says, “while in an argument in your marriage you can be right at the top of your lungs and still be wrong.” His point is that if you win the argument, but in your anger, damage the relationship you haven’t really won anything. In other words, in marriage, essay writing, traffic, and life in general, there’s not just a right thing to do, there’s a right way to do it.
Chapters 8 and 9 in Wander Through WorldWonder: Mac & Mica’s Adventure help us think about this tension. These chapters are suggesting that Mac, Mica, and King are doing the right thing (trying to defend Tommy) but perhaps they’re going about it the wrong way.
In his sermon on the mount, Jesus provides an extreme example for us on how to handle these kinds of tensions. He suggests, “the next time someone smacks you in the face, turn your other cheek and let him smack the other one too.” (paraphrased Matthew 5:39)
Can you imagine…in Miami!
We think, “What is Jesus getting at? Why in the world would He EVER suggest we allow someone who has just hit us in the face to hit us again? What possible wisdom could be hidden in this bizarre suggestion?” Then you imagine what you would feel in this scenario. Anger! Resentment! Bitterness! Self-righteous indignation! And it becomes clear that our natural response to the other’s sin is to sin back.
We want justice (the right thing) but in sin we take it for ourselves (the wrong way)! This is not the way of Jesus who had just said, “Anyone who is angry with his brother is subject to judgement” (Matthew 5:22). Paul goes on to warn us in Ephesians four to “be careful that in your anger you do not sin.”
Mac, Mica, King, and Tommy are justified in fighting for justice. But by taking matters into their own hands, they are doing the right thing in the wrong way. Tommy is the one who figures this out at the end of the chapter. After they’ve failed and made a bigger mess, Tommy understands the truth. And both the problem and tensions are resolved.
“Teach me YOUR way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name.”
Westminster Christian School, located in Palmetto Bay, Florida, is a private, college-preparatory school for children from preschool through twelfth grade.