My Version of a Children's Story

There is a trend in our culture that says, “Everyone is good, there is no evil.”

I told the 13 & 14 year olds at camp a story that illustrates that philosophy.

For nearly ten years, I have been a volunteer police Chaplain. Among the things that I do as a Chaplain is occasionally ride with officers on patrol. Several years ago I was with an officer in the suburb of Fort Worth, Texas, where we lived at the time.

The officer stopped a vehicle that caught her attention because it turned off a major street into a residential neighborhood without a turn signal and much too fast for a street with houses.

The car pulled over and the officer went to talk with a young man who was about 19 or 20. He could not produce a driver’s license and his registration sticker was expired. After running a check, the officer discovered the reason he could not produce a license was that it had been revoked.

A word to the wise: if you get caught driving revoked, you will go to jail. So after the young man was out of the car and handcuffed, the officer asked him if he had anything in his pockets she should know about; stuff like guns, knives, a bazooka. He said no, nothing like that, but he did have a little pot.

A little pot turned out to be two quart-sized zip-locks stuffed with marijuana. After he was stuffed into the back seat of the cruiser he said, “I don’t know why you’re doing this to me. I’m really a good person.”

Can someone cheat by not paying to register his car, violate a court order by driving revoked, carry enough of a controlled substance for it to be a felony and still be basically a good person?

Jesus had something to say about that.

Matthew 7:17-20

¹⁷Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.