By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
Hey diddle diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed
To see such sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.
As children, we probably never stopped to consider just how helter-skelter that little nursery rhyme really is. The cat is playing a fiddle. The cow is flying over the moon. The dog is laughing, and apparently the dish and spoon have decided they have had enough of the kitchen and are running away together. You see… everything is moving, but nothing is functioning as it should.
Reflecting on it, Hey Diddle Diddle might mirror our world today—and, sadly, it can also represent the condition of the Christian individual, marriage, family, church, business, and government. I wonder… if a lost or ruined soul, an immature person, looked at you, would they say, “There’s a person I can trust because they say what they claim to be through Christ”? Notice I said Christ, not through your urges, desires, emotions, will, or even understanding, but through Christ. Unfortunately, most are going through themselves rather than through Christ. A very helter-skelter type of faith, if you will. Very disastrous!
We are busy, vocal, visible, political, programmed, podcasted, livestreamed, and constantly posting. Christians are running in every direction, expressing every opinion and joining every argument. Yet all that activity does not necessarily mean we are moving in the right direction. Sometimes, as a good friend would say, we are simply running, discombobulated, or, through the theme of today’s devotion, helter-skelter.
That is why we desperately need the weapon of discretion.
Immediately after warning His followers about hypocritical judgment, Jesus says, “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matthew 7:6).
Those are strong words, and they require careful handling. Jesus is not giving permission to walk around calling people dogs and pigs. That would violate the spirit of what He has just taught. He is giving us a picture of what can happen when sacred things are handled without true wisdom – Truth!
Pearls were extremely valuable in Jesus’ day. They were treasures—not toys to be tossed around carelessly. Jesus is reminding us that truth is precious, and precious truth requires discretion.
Not every truth needs to be spoken in every conversation. Not every disagreement needs our opinion. Not every social-media post requires our correction. And not every person is prepared to receive what we are trying to give them.
Discretion involves understanding what to say, how to say it, when to speak, and when to remain silent. It is not a sign of cowardice, compromise, or silence but a Christlike wisdom that recognizes the difference between planting a seed and casting a pearl (truth) before swine. The pearl could harm the pig if swallowed, which contradicts our goal of sharing the truth in love. Remember, our aim is to love our enemies and seek their attention, not to cause harm.
Unfortunately, Christians or the Church have not handled the treasure of Christ with such care.
Mahatma Gandhi deeply admired many of Jesus’ teachings, particularly the Sermon on the Mount. A statement frequently attributed to him reads, “I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” The exact wording is historically disputed, but Gandhi clearly expressed a troubling concern: he could see beauty in Christ’s teachings that he did not always see reflected in the reality of the Christian or, for that matter, Christendom (Jesus’ domain here on earth).
That should make us pause.
Not because Gandhi understood everything about Jesus, but because those who bear Christ’s name should never make Christ harder to see. In fact, just the opposite. Does your reality reflect Jesus?
The tragedy is not simply that the world sometimes rejects Jesus. Jesus told us that would happen. The greater tragedy is when people cannot see Jesus because His followers are standing in the way—arguing without listening, condemning without loving, speaking without thinking, and throwing sacred truth into every passing political, cultural, and personal fight.
We have sometimes taken the priceless reality of God’s Kingdom (The Pearl of Great Price [Matthew 13:45–46]) and reduced it to religious performance, partisan anger, personal ambition, and social-media outrage. Then we wonder why the watching world struggles to recognize its value.
Christian, no…Church, perhaps it is time to wake up and hear the trumpet call.
The world does not merely need us to speak more loudly about Jesus. It needs us to live so faithfully, love so deeply, and speak so wisely that people can recognize the truth we keep talking about.
Jesus has not become less beautiful. His truth has not become less valuable. His Kingdom has not become less powerful. But we must stop handling sacred things carelessly.
The cat may continue playing the fiddle. The cow may keep jumping over the moon. The dish and spoon may still be running around somewhere. But the Christian or the Church does not have to join the helter-skelter parade.
We can slow down. We can listen. We can love. We can discern when to speak and when to remain silent. Most importantly, we can live in such a way that our lives reveal the value of the Pearl we carry and truly live with the TRUTH!
The Christian and the Church do not need more noise. It needs more discretion!
As always…God is here. God is able. God is good.
Pastor Drake
I’ll be continuing this conversation later this week on the Just Sayin’ podcast, where we’ll take a deeper look at The Discretion Weapon: Hey Diddle Diddle
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so, we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.