Have you ever misidentified something? Let me share with you what I mean. The other day, I was driving up Silver Creek Valley Road early in the morning. I love to look out over the Blossom Valley as I’m making my way up the hill. On most days it’s a beautiful view. As I’m glancing at the landscape I notice several deer eating on the hillside. At least I think they were deer. They might have been elk. Isn’t an elk a deer? I have trouble identifying some species of animals. I remember several years ago Pam and I took our young children to the drive though Safari…in Oklahoma. The park boasted about having 2,000 species of animals. They all looked like goats to me. I was unaware that there are 2,000 species of goats. Anyway, I think I saw some elk. They are huge. And they have bushy white tails. Maybe their white tailed elk. Whatever they were, it was neat to see them. Adjusting my eyes back to the road, I notice a bushy white tail bouncing up and down on the other side of the street, just above the hedge line. I couldn’t believe it. I thought to myself, “There is a white-tailed elk walking on the sidewalk!” I slowed my car down, hoping that maybe I could get out of the car and pet it. The closer I got to the white tailed creature, I noticed that it wasn’t an elk, or a deer, but it was a man with white bushy hair walking up the sidewalk. From a distance, I could only see the back of his head, bobbing up and down over the hedge, (Which, by the way, looked almost exactly like a deer’s tail). I don’t think he combed his hair that morning. I pulled the car over anyway, but the man didn’t want to be petted. He just kept walking, faster and faster. Misidentified!
Who could misidentify a man for a deer? Certainly not Dr. Doolittle. But on that morning, I did. Sometimes things just look so plain, so simple, and so clear that we immediately make a judgment. But getting closer we realize we were wrong. Because everything isn’t as it appears.
I thought about how many times I’ve misidentified people. For example, I might see a homeless person begging for money and quickly assume that they are addicted to drugs or alcohol or perhaps mentally challenged. And then slowing down for a second and taking a closer look, find out that this person was left on the street due to their family abandoning them or other misfortunes. Misidentified.
It’s easy to misidentify because we make quick assumptions based on appearances. A pastor friend of mine tells a story about sitting on an airplane in Little Rock, Arkansas, returning home from some church meetings. The aisle seat was empty and a long – haired, hippie looking guy sits next to him. He said I quickly made some evaluations of this man based on his appearance and all of them were negative. The guy plops down in the seat and introduces himself. Alton, my friend, introduced himself as well.
The long haired guy said, “What do you do?”
Alton replied, “I’m a pastor. And you?”
The hippie answered, “I’m Jesus”.
Now Alton knows for sure his assumptions are true. This guy has taken way to many drugs and he thinks he’s Jesus.
The hippie continued, “I’m really not Jesus, I play Jesus at the Passion play in Eureka Springs. However, I’ve been a follower of Jesus for many years”.
Misidentified! My pastor friend would make the point not to be too quick to judge people because that could be Jesus sitting next to you. Amen to that.
Even Jesus was misidentified. The Pharisees misidentified Jesus based on their own evaluations, prejudices and assumptions.
Jesus said to them one day, “You judge by human standards…” (John 8:15).
That’s really the problem with my misidentifications…I judge by human standards. Perhaps that’s the key to help us start seeing people as God sees them – don’t make evaluations based solely on human evaluations. Wait. Get a little closer. That white tail you think is a deer or an elk might just be a man with messed up hair!

Pastor Tim