The Dirty Mug

The other day I was unloading my dishwasher. I always unload the bottom rack first, so if there's any water in the stuff on the top rack it doesn't drip down and get the dishes on the bottom wet. Anyway, I unloaded all the bottom rack dishes and moved on to the top rack. . . . where I found a DIRTY mug! Aaaargh. 


So then I was suspicious of all the other "clean" dishes I just put away. I tried to remember exactly what else was in there, and I hope I got all of them out to wash by hand, but it did leave me wondering.   (Not to mention grouchy about having to wash by hand all the dishes that should have been cleaned by the machine the night before.) 


And it made me think. Maybe the bottom dishes were clean, but they just got a bad reputation because of that one dirty mug. 


And then I thought - am I that dirty mug? I used to be in sales, so, trust me, I've met plenty of dirty mugs. Sales representatives in general get a bad reputation because of the dirty mugs in the business. 


But as a representative stay-at-home-mom, am I a dirty mug? Do I complain or sigh or look down on moms who have made other choices? Do I make people around me suspicious of the other innocent stay-at-home-moms in the dishwasher with me? 


Worse yet, am I a dirty mug Christian? Does my attitude or behavior reflect badly on other Christians? Does yours? 


"You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me and I will remain in you. " John 15:3-4