“Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” — Proverbs 18:2

We love to share our own opinions and thoughts on all manner of things; we are loath to listen, much less understand those of others. And the pointed question from the Pastor: “Does that do the Kingdom any good? Does it do your insides any good?”

He then pivoted to the perfect analogy — Statler and Waldorf (of Muppet fame — I expect most readers are old enough to recall these curmudgeonly fellows.) As he noted:

We live in this anxious world…angry world…we’ve talked about that. What I want to do for just a second…I want to see if I can explain to you just how it is that we — if we’re not careful — fall into a trap and start dancing a dance that is presented to us, and before you know it, we are like those angry muppets in the balcony….Some of you are old enough to remember Statler and Waldorf — they’re the two old guys, you know, they’re cynical, they’re cranky…they’re always lobbing judgment bombs and zingers and one-liners over the edge of the balcony, but here it is — they’re always spectators.