"Mr. Mom" was released in
1983. I was three years old, so please
don't hold me responsible for whatever terrible stereotypes it probably
displayed prominently, but as I sat here more than three decades later, a line
from the film came back to me. Weird,
right? There is a scene where the dad is
dropping his children off in the school carpool for the first time, and he has
entered the parking lot in the wrong direction.
All of the impatient parents (I guess, for the purpose of this movie,
they are all moms) are honking and screaming.
The dad's elementary school aged child tries to explain the problem to
him by simply exclaiming, "You're doing it wrong!" Finally, the lady who must be in charge of
the carpool steps up to the car and echoes these words. She gives some directions for how to do it
right the next time, and the scene ends with more honking and yelling. After spending 1 minute and 8 seconds of my
life to relive this moment in film history, I was left feeling a little bit as
if this poor man felt like this was the message for his entire life!
None of us likes to be told that we're
wrong. This can be difficult even when
we are trying something new, but it is nearly impossible to deal with when we
are doing something we know how to
do, something we're good at
doing! This passage from John always
baffles me just a little bit:
John
21:1-6, "Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of
Galilee.
It happened this way: Simon
Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons
of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 'I’m going out to fish,' Simon
Peter told them, and they said, 'We’ll go with you.' So they went out and got
into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore,
but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, 'Friends, haven’t you any fish?'
'No,' they answered. He said, 'Throw your
net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.' When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the
large number of fish" (NIV).
You see, these disciples knew what they
were doing! This is not like the first
(and only) time I ever went fishing and refused to use a hook, because I didn't
want to hurt the fish. No kidding, but
perhaps this is a story for another time.
These guys were professional fishermen before they were disciples! And some guy who they don't even recognize as
Jesus strolls out on the beach in the morning and tells them the reason they
haven't caught any fish all night long is because their net is on the wrong
side of the boat! Essentially, their
knowledge of fishing, their many years of experience, the fact that they have
crafted their lives around this trade - these things don't matter. They're doing it wrong.
When Jesus inserts himself into their sad
narrative on this morning without breakfast, they have a choice. They can dig their heels in, keep their net
on the wrong side of the boat, and go hungry.
Or, they can take a chance that Jesus might be right, cast their net on
the other side, and see what happens.
Honestly, in my own life I can see this going either way. On any given morning, it might depend on
whether I'm more hungry or more embarrassed.
I hope, at least on most days, that hunger would win out.
Matthew
5:6, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they
will be filled" (NIV).
The disciples choose hungry.
The net is filled so miraculously that it is a second miracle that they
ever get it to shore without losing all of the fish. Peter realizes it's Jesus on shore, so he
puts his clothes back on and swims the length of a football field while the
other disciples haul the net in. Jesus
is already having breakfast when they arrive.
He serves the bread again. Pretty
typical day in the life of a disciple.
L.
These last 2 chapters are filled with so much truth. i love your take away from this story. I am hoping to be hungry!!
ReplyDeleteI agree about the truth... and the hunger... Perhaps we need cupcakes? ;)
Deletewe always need cupcakes.
ReplyDelete