A Clean Slate

When we meet new people on the road, we know nothing about their background. Nothing at all to keep us from assuming the best.  We have nothing with which to hold against such a new acquaintance. There is no preconceived context to place them in a labeled box.

They are given a clean slate with which to draw themselves. They can present any side or angle of themselves that they wish to show us. This contrasts how our biological families and longstanding neighbors present invitations. We can’t help but remember the past, the labels, or the slates set in stone.

It's hard to start fresh or provide a new slate when you can't erase the old one from your memory bank. Perhaps this is why it was so difficult for people to accept Jesus in his hometown (Matthew 13:57).  Grace was always there; it should always be freely given by Christians, but the boxes make for arduous sketching. Preconceived notions trap us in unhealthy, habitual behaviors, interactions, and conversations causing us to forget the fragrance of grace.

For this reason, traveling gives us practice in seeing someone for the very first time. Being given the right vision and tuned hearing in order to engage accurately with our audience of one. Introducing or re-introducing someone to Jesus therefore costs us nothing, nor does it cost them anything. You may never encounter each other again.

Human beings are much more vulnerable when they have nothing to gain or lose. When they know we won't be there day after day staring with a critical eye, we become a safe space-- free from any lasting judgements.

If you never leave your same space, or even seek to step outside your comfort zone within that space, you'll continue to view people from the box you've placed them in. It takes a mighty act of God, a miracle, to re-see someone that you've seen all your life. We may not have the joy of continued discipleship, or consistent community, but we have the honor of trying to reflect Jesus and his disciples because they didn't stay very long in any one place either.

Jesus looked at His traveling acquaintances with fresh eyes despite His knowing their souls before their physical existence. He broke bread, drank wine, and healed their brokenness as if He was meeting them for the very first time. Such a fragrance of unbiased love attracts the loneliest of sinners. He gave us all a clean slate of grace when we finally came to Him without reservations. Shouldn't we seek to do the same?

Instead of missing out on having the same community year after year, the past few years of full-time traveling has enabled me to see the joy of the temporal--the gift of fresh gratitude on clean slates.

~Offering a Clean Slate Carefully & Carelessly