Good Or Bad

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here." (Luke 11:29-32)

Are we an evil generation?  Perhaps it’s unfair to ask such a question because it forces us to say we are either good or bad.  Most of us are neither.  We are a mixture of both; our behavior is nuanced meaning we are capable of both with the good usually winning our interior battles for supremacy.  Also, what defines good versus bad is not always clear. 

Unfortunately, many of us make that distinction when referring to our neighbors.  We categorize using our own definition and biases.  That’s rat behavior typified in this Pearls Before Swine cartoon.

We must act more like goat to give our neighbors the benefit of the doubt, get to understand them, and just as importantly, understand ourselves.  The “Sign of Jonah” can be understood as the need for us to recognize that people are nuanced, and we must not judge people as good or bad. 

Deacon David Pierce