bad art

i read an article that said we should not judge art before its completion. the author told how a movie was shared before it was ever finished and then it received high criticism and remarks on how it didn’t live up to expectations, but they had illegally viewed the unfinished product. how can you pass judgement on something like that when the artist hasn’t even finished it?

and then the article took another turn. it said that we do that all the time. with each other. God is our artist and He is creating something wonderful in all of us but we pass judgement before He is finished. we look at one another and say, “that’s bad art,” or we write someone off for not being the way we think they should be. and God is still working in them!

perhaps, it is God’s plan to use you in the making of someone else. but you write them off as bad art and decide you don’t want to be around that person. you have just cut that person off from one of the ingredients God planned for their life. so not only have you passed judgement but you’ve also stunted a particular growth path. what if community with you was precisely what God had in mind for them?

we want all the grace God has for us. where, then, is our grace for others? perhaps God has dealt graciously with you so that you will carry that grace out for people He specifically puts in your path. how ya doin’ with that?