One Guitar – Two Attitudes

Arriving early for our annual Camp Dixon weekend has certain advantages. Among those advantages is the joy and privilege of seeing old friends drive up, greeting them, helping them unload their camping supplies, and catching up on the latest family news..

At this point, I am obligated to insert, that, along with old friends, you may occasionally see someone for whom you don’t have particularly warm feelings. Such was the case when my friend, Frank, pulled up with his family. As they unloaded I happened to see his son, Frankie, lift his guitar from the trunk of their car. Frankie was a teenager with a rebellious, downright unpleasant attitude that really rubbed me the wrong way. ‘Oh, I see Frankie brought his guitar.” I thought; this was the limit of my thinking at that point.

Attendees regularly bring musical instruments to Camp Dixon, where families, and/ or groups of families, often gather around campsite fires, play music, and sing warm, uplifting hymns and choruses.

For decades I have lead worship at Camp Dixon. The typical annual Camp Dixon weekend has two primary “formal” worship events. The first occurs on Saturday evening when nearly every family gathers around a huge bonfire in “The Valley”. During the hour-long session, I lead the group as we sing familiar worship choruses and hymns; interspersed with the musical selections, a number of pre-selected men share scriptures that have been meaningful in their own lives, and have the potential of challenging or bringing encouragement to the many like-minded families gathered around the bonfire.

That night, about ten minutes into our worship time, I became aware of a guitar playing along behind me as I lead the worship songs. Anger swelled inside me. Obviously, young Frankie had brought his guitar to the bonfire, and, without asking, elected to play along. I was distracted by my anger, but managed to make my way through the remainder of the worship ceremony; by the end of the program my anger had subsided – somewhat.

After closing the program, without thinking I turned around; there stood my old friend, James, his guitar hung around his neck, his twinkling eyes looking directly at me, and a huge smile on his face. ‘James was able to play along tonight. That’s cool!’ I said to myself.

At that moment the Holy Spirit ‘tapped me on the shoulder’ and whispered ‘You don’t love Frankie, do you?’.

The exact same guitar music, producing two very different attitudes on my part; I was convicted, I was ashamed.

There is much about love in the New Testament. One of my favorite ‘love passages’ is 1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.” I call this my ‘cut-‘em-some-slack’ verse.

Consider this: Someone wrongs you, does something offensive toward you; or perhaps you hear of a wrong, a blatant sin even, committed by this individual. I contend you can often measure your love for the offending individual. If you love them, your initial reaction is likely “I’m sure he didn’t really mean that”, or “I wonder what’s bothering Joe?”. On the other hand, if you dislike someone or feel distain for that person, your reaction is more likely to be something like “I knew it! That’s just like him! What else do you expect?”

The difference? Love – Agape’ love, God’s love, real love. We are commanded to love — even those difficult to love — even our enemies!

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43-44)

Thankfully young Frankie never knew of the anger I felt toward him that night, but I learned a valuable lesson — a lesson about my wicked heart, about how my heart can react very differently towards someone based upon my feelings about that individual, a lesson about how my feelings towards someone invariably make their way to the surface — and what surfaces is often not very pretty.

Love one another; it’s not a suggestion – it’s a command.