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When doing the right thing causes an embarrassing situation, are you quick to chicken out? Fran and her friend, Barry, find themselves in such a dilemma. They agreed to go with some new friends, Max and Claire, to a movie, only to discover a few minutes into it that it’s not the kind of thing they want to watch, even if it was rated PG-13.
So Barry rather abruptly and decisively informed Max that he and Fran would meet them after the movie ended, and they headed out of the theater. Sitting next door at the coffee shop, waiting for the movie to end, Barry and Fran have an opportunity to discuss whether it was right to cause that little scene or just sit through the movie to avoid embarrassing their new friends. Barry is convinced that you never compromise your standards, and as they’re finishing their coffee, they look up to see Max and Claire coming in.
“Hey,” Claire says, “I thought we’d find you here. We decided to leave, too.”
“Hi,” Fran says; “I’m sorry about leaving so abruptly but. . .”
“It was my decision, Claire,” Barry interrupts. “And I do apologize if we embarrassed you. I just felt the movie was so far off base, that it was nothing either of us should watch.”
“Well, I thought it was pretty dumb myself,” Max agrees.
“What bugged me,” Barry says, “was that they were portraying this angel in such an immoral way. I don’t think Jesus would watch that movie, do you?”
“No, I guess not,” Max says, “I hadn’t thought about that. . .”
“You know, what I’ve finally decided is that you have to set standards and then stick to them. Often as Christians we lower our standards a little bit here and a little bit there, and all of a sudden, we’re on a slippery slope downhill.”
And with that, a long discussion begins, giving Barry and Fran a wonderful opportunity to share and to encourage their new friends in their walk as Christians. It turned into a wonderful evening, actually.
On the way home, Fran takes Barry’s hand. “I was so proud to be with you tonight, Barry. You were incredible. Thank you so much for taking that stand and handling it so beautifully.”
“Thanks, Fran,” he says, “but you weren’t real sure at first, were you?”
“Well, you know me, I want to avoid conflict at any cost; sometimes you just can’t do that, can you?” she comments.
“Not if you want to be a true disciple,” Barry agrees. “And by the way, I was proud to be with you too. But then I always am.”
She smiles at him. What a man! Quietly she thanks Jesus for the courage and character Barry showed.