CowPi Journal

The Dart Test

20 January 2004, 10 am | Story

One particular day, Sally walked into her religion class. She knew it was going to be a fun day because it was Mr. Smith’s class. Mr. Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons.

On the wall was a big target and on a nearby table were many darts. Mr. Smith told the students to draw a picture of someone that they disliked or someone who had made them angry. He would allow them to throw darts at the person’s picture.

One student drew a picture of someone who had stolen her boyfriend. Another student drew a picture of his little brother. Sally drew a picture of a former friend, putting a great deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing pimples on the face. Sally was pleased with the overall effect she had achieved.

The class lined up and began throwing darts. Some of the students threw their darts with such force that their targets were ripping apart. Sally looked forward to her turn. She was filled with disappointment when Mr. Smith, because of time limits, asked the students to return to their seats. As Sally sat thinking about how angry she was because she didn’t have a chance to throw any darts at her target. Mr. Smith began removing the target from the wall.

Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus. A hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus; holes and jagged marks covered His face, and His eyes were pierced.

The only words Mr. Smith said were from Matthew 25:40, “In as much as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me.”

No other words were necessary. The tears filled eyes of the students focused only on the picture of Christ.

This is a test. An easy test. Your score is 100 or zero. It is your choice.

I received this in my email this morning. The message is harsh. It should be, at times. We all make mistakes, but do you ask God for forgiveness for yourself when you mess up? Or maybe the question should be, do you realize it when you are messing up?

This also reminded me of something I posted earlier in the month.