Matt. 18:8-9 – ‘“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.’ (NASB)
A while back I published a post about an ‘unwanted story’ and I was often asked if the post was finished, or to provide some explanation for it all. In light of this, I thought to revisit it all and shed some light.
(Note: If you haven’t read the post, I would encourage you to do so before reading this.)
As some of you might have figured, there were hidden meanings and messages in the tale, which I will attempt to unravel.
It all started with an individual who was trying to get some entertainment but was forced to watch a random, unresolved pop-up about a man with a bad foot.
The Man and His Bad Foot
“…I saw a man, as average as any; nothing particularly different about him. I did notice though that he seemed to have a bad foot.”
This is the main character of the Unwanted Story. He is introduced as ordinary and average with no particular outstanding qualities; he could very well be you or me. His bad foot represents some form of vice or sin that he found hindering his walk to salvation. We are given some brief descriptions of the effect this sin had in his life:
“He walked with some difficulty, unable to quite find his balance.” – The sin affected his sense of judgment; his indulgence left him without a firm foundation.
“Standing was a challenge,” – Harbouring his sin and its detriment, he was handicapped in his ability to stand for what he believed in.
‘…walking was difficult, and running or jumping was near impossible.’ – He was barely able to keep in the way with his sin hindering his walk, let alone taking great strides or doing anything that required the zeal an unhindered believer could muster.
This man, although fully aware of the recommended course of action (we’ll get into that later), decided instead to get other opinions that were more pleasing to him. The story clues us in on two:
The Wise-Looking Man and His Age-Old Ointment
“… he met this wise-looking man who gave him an apparently age-old ointment to rub on his foot.”
This character represents people, ideologies and traditions that have the appearance of wisdom or righteousness, but in reality only offer placebos that have no true lasting solution. Like an ineffective balm, they only serve to mask the pain and issue for a while, as the main character soon found out.
The first time he uses the ointment, he notices a change and finds himself seemingly restored. However, an ineffective measure can only cover up the main issue for so long, and it is only a matter of time before a cracked mask shatters to reveal the troubled soul beneath.
How quickly we buy into high-sounding fakes in our moments of desperation (and continue to do so even when it starts becoming obvious that they do not resolve the issue), rather than seeking out true restoration. On the surface, they might seem to cover our depravity and the extent of our hidden sin, but nothing stays hidden forever.
(For further reading, see Col. 2:8)
The Hipster and the Cool Shoes
“…Another incident… was… with the hipster down the road where he lived who was ‘in’ with the latest trends. He suggested that the man get these cool-looking shoes that not only would help with his mobility issues, but were also fashionable!”
The Hipster represents the collective position of society that serves to promote its latest doctrines. Being up to date with the latest trends, the hipster points the main character to the ‘cool shoes’. These shoes promised to help him to get better in his walk AND gain the approval of the world around him; the shoes was stated to have raving reviews and breakthrough technology.
Who wouldn’t believe those who say they have made new discoveries and that you should trust them because they know what they’re talking about?
Who wouldn’t believe others who say they’ve tried it out and recommend that it works for them?
Who wouldn’t want something that was effective, yet wasn’t met with opposition?
Who wouldn’t want to live for God AND gain the approval of the world?
As the main character finds out, all those promises were empty dreams. Not only were the shoes not helping, but they also started affecting his one good foot. He did indeed get complimented on his shoes, but they made his walk even harder than it was before, and if left unchecked, were on track to keeping him from walking altogether.
Beware that you do not forfeit righteousness for acceptance, and let go of the notion that you can live for God and yet be accepted by all. It doesn’t matter if others say they have found a way to do it, or you find like-minded people rallying behind it; evaluate it all with a discerning mind.
(For further reading, see 1 John 2:15-17; Ecc. 1:8-10)
The Friend with the Missing Hand
At his lowest point, the main character reunites with a friend he had met before who urges him to listen to his doctor’s recommendation and amputate the foot. This character represents a fellow pilgrim who, though he had not gone through exactly what the main character is going through, went through something similar. He had been hindered by a sin so detrimental that it required drastic measures to overcome. The sharing of his testimony brought shame to the main character, yet made him aware that he was not the only one who had faced such a plight before. This character proves to be a friend because he opens up his heart and intimately reveals the scars he has endured, in hopes of helping the main character find peace and saving him from a life ruined by sin.
(For further reading: Gal. 6:1-2; Jas. 5:19-20; 2 Cor. 1:3-5)
The Captive Audience
“…The screen flickered and dimmed until it was just a black screen, and for a moment, all I could see was my reflection. Soon after, the screen flickered again and I was then forced to watch a peculiar tale unfold.”
Finally, the character who narrates the story represents you or me. While seeking distractions from the world, he is captured for a moment by the grace of a good God who calls him away from his plans. The character’s mind is brought to face the word of God–the screen by which he could see a reflection of the state of his soul and his need for help. Sometimes God graciously calls for our attention in moments and shows us the path to making us more like Him.
After the moment was over, the narrator had a choice to either meditate on what he had just seen and reflect on it, or ignore the warning and indulge in his distractions. The ‘weird itch’ in the narrator’s foot at the end is symbolic of him having a growing sin which he was leaving unchecked, and it echoes (perhaps as a premonition) the plight of the main character in the Unwanted Story, hinting that it could happen to the narrator, and indeed, to any one of us.
(For further reading, see Jas. 1:22-25; Ps. 19:12; Rom. 3:20)
What is The Point of it All?
Often times I find that we are more willing to receive and empathize with characters in a story than we are to face the struggles and realities of our own lives. We find this to be true for the narrator of the Unwanted Story who connected with the main character in the story and his plight, yet was too distracted with other things to stop and deal with his own issues. The story was ‘unwanted’ because such reflection wasn’t sought after, but was given by the grace of God who urges sinners to repent.
There are a couple of things that could possibly be taken from this Unwanted Story, but the main point is to encourage you, my fellow pilgrims, to be aware of things that might be crippling your life, and understand that some things require drastic action to deal with them. Don’t be taken in by people who claim to have the answer or quick fixes just because it sounds wise, and don’t fall for the trap of thinking the collective perspective of society is the right perspective. Only God can give healing, direction, and true peace. And know this, friend, that no sin, status, relationship or possession is worth more than your soul. It is eternally better to go to heaven with an open hand than to go to hell with a clenched fist.
Heb. 12:1-2a – ‘…Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…’ (ESV)
