BULLying

 

A DEA Agent stopped by the farm of an old rancher. He told the man, “I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs.” The rancher said, “Okay, but don’t go into that field over there…”, as he pointed out the location. The DEA Agent verbally exploded and said, “Look mister, I have the authority of the federal government with me!” Reaching into his rear back pocket, the arrogant officer removed his badge and proudly displayed it to the rancher. “See this badge?! This badge means I can go wherever I want on any land! No questions asked!

  The rancher kindly nodded, apologized, and went about his chores. Moments later the rancher heard screams, he looked up and saw the DEA agent running for his life, being chased by the rancher’s big bull.  With every step, the bull was gaining ground on the officer. The old rancher seeing his predicament moved over to the fence, and yelled at the top of his lungs, ““YOUR BADGE! SHOW HIM YOUR BADGE!”

  At times it can be tempting to bully our way through folks. We can use the power of our prestige or the weight of our words to back people into doing what we want. It may be our ‘right’ and we may even have the authority to do so, but that does not make it right or even good for us.

  When we speak to people we need to remember to  ‘season our words’ (Colossians 4:6) God doesn’t call us to boss around people but to serve them (Luke 22:25-26). You may get a person to do what you want but you will not win him over by bowing up and bowling over him.

  If we want respect, we must first start by showing respect to others.