A Little Mud in Your Eye

Leadership

Not only was it a public scandal, but it was also totally gross. The dude was sitting alone, blind as a bat, and begging for change. Then along comes a stranger, proclaims to be the light of the world, spits in the dirt, swirls his own saliva into mud, and before the blind beggar knows what's happening, he’s got mud all over his eyes. Nasty. It almost seems cruel at first. Then Jesus said, "Go wash your face." He did, and immediately he could see.

First off, he did this on the sabbath when nobody was supposed to be working. Secondly, it was such a miraculous thing, people didn't believe it was true and thought it was a scam. They started arguing with each other, trying to bait the parents into saying something wrong, and questioning the guy who was healed to such a degree that they challenged his integrity. Even accusing Jesus of being a fraud and baiting him to corroborate.

The man simply stuck with the one thing they couldn't take from him, his own witness and experience.

"I don't know whether he is a sinner,' the man replied. 'But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!'" (John 9:25)

False accusations, interpretations of the truth, and one-sided arguments can be tossed around so aggressively that they can lead you to believe something that isn't true. Something others want to impose on you. What they want to be true, but not the truth. It happens all day long, where people either see an angle for personal gain or a situation they need to thwart in fear of losing their own control or influence. When that happens, fall back to what you know- your own witness and personal experience.

I don't know about all that other stuff, but I know this...I was blind and now I can see.

I don't know about all that other stuff, but I know this...I was blind and now I can see. My life pre- and post-Jesus had a lot of dirt involved and resulted in a clear line of demarcation. Don't sucker me into your problems, lies, doubts, or fears. Those are your monkeys to handle. Ignore the fear mongers that want to convince you what is true and what is not; who you are and who you aren't, what you believe and what you shouldn't.

The schemes of the devil are cunning to the point that they pervert and cloud reality. Don't take the bait and let other people's blindness prevent you from seeing. And when people come at you with shade and false accusations, stick to what you know, your own witness, even if it takes a little mud in your eye.