Assumptions
A number of weeks ago during our orientation, a devotional was being given by the headmaster. All employees of the school were there: faculty, administrative workers, custodians, gardners. As the headmaster spoke, one of the staff members at the very back kept talking in only slightly-hushed tones to the man next to him. Though I couldn’t make out what was being said (I was sitting near the front), the noise was easily audible. At first I thought the man might be finishing an important conversation and would surely stop soon. But no, he kept up his back-row mumbling throughout the entire presentation.
Previously I had seen the man a few times; he struck me as not partcularly warm, not much in the way of a smile or obvious friendliness. Particularly in light of the man’s talking throughout the devotional, I had the feeling he was disinterested and probably sullen about being required to attend the event.
Boy, was I wrong. In a conversation with a faculty colleague afterwards, I quietly asked if the distraction of the man’s talking was typical and if anyone ever addressed it. Nope, he said…because the man was translating into French for a couple of employees who didn’t speak English! He was not slighting but rather serving the headmaster and staff.
What convicted me most about my assumption was that the man was Cameroonian. Did that have anything to do with how speedily I jumped to the wrong conclusion? I can’t say for sure; it is sometimes hard to accurately parse the predjudices of one’s own mind and heart. What I do know is that I am instinctively too quick to pass judgment. I am especially too quick to judge others’ hearts.
Later that afternoon I ended up in a basketball game with the man and soon discovered many smiles and quiet humor. It turns out he also is a master at repairing book bindings (part of his job as a library assistant.) He greets me kindly every time I encounter him.
Travelling across an ocean to minister cross-culturally apparently does not mean my attitudes about race and unfamiliar things are any less tainted by sin and selfishness. Lord help me to soberly judge my own heart.
--David
