A New Devotion - Never Assume

Here's a new devotion that I wrote. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.

Matthew 27:11-23

Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You say so." But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?" But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?" For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, "Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him." Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" All of them said, "Let him be crucified!" Then he asked, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified!"

Never Assume

When I was younger, a coach taught me that I should never assume. And the reason, well, it’s because, when you assume, it does something very unpleasant to both you and me. Of course, as a man of discretion, I won’t say what it will make both of us, but you can figure it out by separating the second “s” from the “u.” Actually, I think it’s pretty clever.

But regardless, I believe it offers some pretty good advice. In other words, it’s probably a bad idea to make a lot of assumptions, especially when they involve other people. You see, when we assume that we know how people will think and what they will do, I believe we’re setting ourselves up for some big disappointments. I mean, since thoughts and actions are shaped by the inner motivations and prejudices, it’s risky for me to assume that, when presented with a certain argument or set of facts, everybody will respond in a predictable. You see, just like Pilate missed the boat when we thought the Jewish crowd would choose Jesus over Barabbas, we might end up both surprised and frustrated when folks are moved by things that are either unknown or unpersuasive to us.

And for that reason, we should never sit back and assume that people will do what we expect them to do. Instead, we should do a little active engagement. I mean, if something is really important to us, I think we should carefully listen to how the other person is seeing the situation and consider his background and thoughts and opinions, before we begin banging our own drums. And once we understand the world around us a little better, we should make an argument that’s meaningful to the ones we want to persuade even if it wouldn’t move us at all. In other words, rather than assuming, we should listen and share, if we want to see the world change.