A Therapeutic Flight
We were at the gate in Buffalo, New York, waiting for our flight to board, when
we noticed her. She must have come quite early, for she was the first one in the
pre-board area, and there were three wheelchairs, including my mother-in-law's,
lined up behind her. She was extremely young to have to be confined to a
wheelchair, and I felt compassion for her.
When pre-boarding began, this young lady was wheeled down the jet-way and
assisted to the best seat on the plane. I noticed that she immediately took out
a book. Now, I always have a fascination for books, and I strained my eyes to
see its title: The King of Kings, Jesus Christ. "She must be a Christian!" I
thought to myself.
She spent the entire four and half hour trip, reading that book, eating crackers
that she received from the stewardess, and drinking Seagrams. I figured that she
was so engrossed with her hardback that she didn't notice that all of her
wrappings, crumbs, and even her Seagrams cans fell on the floor underneath her
chair. I wanted to ask her if it was a good book, but I never got the chance to
do it.
We finally landed at our destination, and while I was busily getting our things
together, I heard one of the stewardesses complain: "Can you believe the nerve?"
I turned around, wondering who she was talking about.
"Did you see how quickly she ran out of the plane with all her heavy luggage?"
The stewardess asked a handicapped passenger who had been seated next to the
young woman.
Still unclear who she was referring to, I focused on their conversation.
"Yeah. How can she pretend to be handicapped when she can carry all those heavy
carry-ons and run out of the plane before anyone else gets the chance to!"
replied the frustrated passenger.
My wife joined in the conversation at this point: "I wondered when she made all
those trips to the lavatory without asking for assistance, but I just figured
that the close quarters on a plane made it easier for her to maneuver without
aide!"
"She only pre-boarded in order to have the best seat on the plane," the
stewardess accused.
It finally dawned on me that they were talking about the handicapped passenger
who had been reading the book about Jesus. Indeed, she had taken the most
handicap-friendly seat.
"I see that all the time," continued the aggravated stewardess. "Hypocrites who
take advantage of the situation, instead of letting passengers in real need have
those seats!"
I was puzzled. Had that lady really taken advantage of the situation? Hadn't she
been a "Christian"? But how else could anyone explain the miraculous
transformation of her handicapped limbs? She had, indeed, come aboard an
invalid, one who needed constant assistance, and somehow, during that
"therapeutic" flight, she had transformed into an agile, heavy-weight lifting
young woman, who could easily beat the passengers racing off the plane!
This really saddened me. Christians are already looked upon with suspicion,
especially with all the frauds out there who pretend to preach the message in
order to fill their own pockets. So many pretend to be Christians, yet instead
of proclaiming Christ, they further their own interests and end up giving a bad
name to the real followers of Christ.
Jesus encountered those in His days as well: "They love the place of honor at
banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues…" (Matt 23:6 NIV); and
"You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: "'These people
honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in
vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" (Matt 15:7-9 NIV)
Who was Jesus talking about? Who were those hypocrites? They were the ones who
were the "pastors" and "elders" of those days. They didn't worship God, they
worshipped themselves! "Everything they do is done for men to see…" (Matt 23:5
NIV)
What a sharp contrast with the real followers of Christ: "If anyone would come
after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matt
16:24-25 NIV)
A Christian is one who puts Jesus' interests first and who denies his own
selfish impulses. A real Christian's motto is the same as the one from John the
Baptist: "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30 NKJV)
Christianity is all about Jesus! It is not about "I". The more we think about
"I", the more miserable we are! Only Jesus can set us free so that we can
experience real life: "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the
full." (John 10:10 NIV)
May our example always be to the glory of God, the One who brought meaning to
our life, and may we touch the lives of those who do not know Jesus on a
personal level!
Do you want the best seat? What about the person behind you?
Rob Chaffart