jpf

I Just Want My Chicken
(Adapted by Louis Lapides, from Still More Hot Illustrations, pg. 177)

One fine evening Chad walked into a fast food chicken place and bought a
nine-piece bucket of chicken. He took his meal to the park for a romantic
picnic under the moonlight with Karla, his woman.

Upon reaching into the container of chicken, however, Chad received a
surprise. Instead of chicken he discovered what was apparently the
restaurants night deposit-nine thousand dollars. The young man brought the
bucket back and asked for his chicken in exchange for the money. Expensive
chicken!

The manager, in awe of the man's honesty, asked for his name and told him he
wanted to call the newspaper and the local news station. Chad would become a
local hero, an example of integrity and morality that would inspire others!

The hungry man shrugged it off. "My date's waiting, I just want my chicken.
No publicity, please!"

The manager's amazement over Chad's humility almost overwhelmed him. He
begged again to be allowed to tell the story on the news. At this, Chad
became angry with the manager and demanded his chicken.

"I don't get it," the manager responded. "You are an honest man in a
dishonest world! This is a perfect opportunity to show there are people
still willing to take a stand for what is right. Please, give me your name
and also the name of the woman in the car. Is that your wife?"

"That's the problem," said Chad. "My wife is at home. The woman in the car
is my girlfriend. Now let me have my chicken so I can get out of here."

It is easy to look first-rate to people who don't know us. We can keep the
high visibility of our misdeeds in check. Since we all want to look good to
others, this ambition can provide a strong motive for self-discipline. But
when it comes to the low visibility of our thought life, we are not as
careful. After all, who is going to see what occurs in our hearts? So we
settle for looking good on the outside but concealing a private world made
up of thoughts we would not want anyone to uncover. Yet our fiercest battles
lie in this low visibility arena.

The answer to winning the battle for our secret life is to open ourselves to
self-examination by God's loving and gentle Spirit. King David prays in
Psalm 139:24, "See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting" (NIV). Sure, we would prefer not to hear any bad news about
our secret sins. But we need to hear the "bad news" if we are to mature and
be transformed by God. The willingness to hear hard truth is vital for
anyone who loves wisdom. In the end, the truth may sound like bad news, but
it is just what we need.