You’re Not Cooter?!

Have you ever been misidentified?  How about misunderstood?  I bet you have! 

A guy named “Cooter” made me think of this.  Yes, Cooter!  We were at the Dukes of Hazard Hall of Fame (we weren’t looking for it but there is actually one!) and sure enough, one of the characters of that show has a little restaurant next door.  Cooter was the mechanic on that early 80’s TV show and these days you can eat and reminisce about the General Lee doing crazy stunts to your heart’s content.

Our family thought this was fascinating.  I was having a good time and I thought we were the luckiest people this side of Hazard County when a guy walked in that looked like Cooter, just with an extra 40 years added since the last time I saw him.  I was convinced this was the guy.

I mentioned something to Jan and she got all excited because she knew her parents liked the character of Cooter.  How cool would it be to get Cooter’s autograph at his own restaurant?  It all made sense to me.

So Jan strolled up to “Cooter” and started a conversation.  I stayed back and watched from afar and took notes of body language.

It didn’t take an expert to see that this was not Cooter and my wife didn’t get an autograph.  All she did was confuse some poor old man that was there for the bluegrass concert.  I’m pretty sure that his real name wasn’t Cooter.  Jan laughed it off and the Cooter-look-alike walked away, baffled that anyone would think he was Cooter.

I thought I knew Cooter, but I guess not!

Around the same time, I had my own experience of being misunderstood.  It wasn’t that someone misidentified me as Cooter, but they did think my actions meant that I was in a bit of trouble with the law!

I work a few days a week in the summer at my friend’s garage.   It’s about 30 miles from my house and while I typically drive there are quite a few days that I ride my bike.  It adds about an hour to the commute but then my commute is my workout and it usually saves some time in the day.  I enjoy it and it’s relatively peaceful and calm ride.

One day I showed up as a personal training client was about to leave.  Her trainer, my friend, explained to her that I ride to work.  Once it got out that it was 30 miles one way that really changed the perspective.  With a little extra thinking the client replied “Oh…does he have to ride here?”  I think the implication was that I didn’t have a vehicle or a license to drive!  Haha!  It’s pretty funny when I think about it because as much joy that I get from riding it can certainly be work or punishment for someone else! 

Have you been misunderstood by what you do?  Misidentified by how you look or where you are?  Join the club!  You, me, and the guy who wasn’t Cooter have been misunderstood or identified incorrectly.

Paul was a guy that would understand this.  He had his life before Christ and then a whole different life after his amazing encounter.  People were more than a little confused at his conversion.  After some time he wrote this though…”Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (New Living Translation).

Following Jesus is an exclusive activity.  It’s personal and often times sets us apart rather than blends us in.  Fitting in often means conforming, copying, and acting like others or what is seen as “normal”.  It’s wearing a label, practicing a position, or following trends.

We were excited to meet an honest to goodness television star but a bit embarrassed and let down when the man said he wasn’t Cooter.  I’m sure he felt like a bit of letdown when we apologized for mistaking him for someone else…and didn’t ask for his autograph!  I’m sure he’s a very nice man and we should have been just as excited to meet him as someone else that we thought was famous!  That man has a name and a story too.

There must be something wrong with me that I would ride 30 miles to work in the heat all day.  It’s a bit off for many and I understand that!  It would be conforming to hop in the car and drive the highway but that’s not always what I’m wired to do!   Society might think that I had a suspended license because I ride but in reality, it’s just part of how God made me, and He speaks when I pedal.

Hopefully you have a story that sets you apart a bit different as well and can see it as part of your own transformation from God.  We were set apart to do His works and that’s just going to be…different.  We are not working to be members of a club but rather contributors to building a Kingdom.  Can you see that difference?  One feels exclusive while the other is out and about, making waves, and doing things just a bit different in order to reach others.  We can celebrate as a group the differences that God has made in us and the transformation He has done in our hearts and minds.

I have caught myself, and maybe you have too, of trying to fit into a mold that’s not really meant for me.  It would feel great to have that momentary sense of fitting in our surroundings.  But I think of many in the Bible that were simply counter cultural and on the outside and how God used them.  It’s extremely common that the misunderstood and mis-identified were used by God after a season of transformation! 

So if you feel just a bit off in terms of how you fit in, take heart from Paul’s words.  Your path might not be conventional or common, but the transformation isn’t done yet.  Press in and hang on.  And if you know the real Cooter please let me know that too!