I Just Want My Chicken

(Adapted by Louis Lapides, from Still More Hot Illustrations, pg. 177)

One fine evening Chad walked into a fast food chicken place and bought a nine-piece bucket of chicken. He took his meal to the park for a romantic picnic under the moonlight with Karla, his woman.
 Upon reaching into the container of chicken, however, Chad received a surprise. Instead of chicken he discovered what was apparently the restaurant's night deposit-nine thousand dollars. The young man brought the bucket back and asked for his chicken in exchange for the money. Expensive chicken!
 The manager, in awe of the man's honesty, asked for his name and told him he wanted to call the newspaper and the local news station. Chad would become a local hero, an example of integrity and morality that would inspire others!
 The hungry man shrugged it off. "My date's waiting, I just want my chicken. No publicity, please!"
 The manager's amazement over Chad's humility almost overwhelmed him. He begged again to be allowed to tell the story on the news. At this, Chad became angry with the manager and demanded his chicken.
 "I don't get it," the manager responded. "You are an honest man in a dishonest world! This is a perfect opportunity to show there are people still willing to take a stand for what is right. Please, give me your name and also the name of the woman in the car. Is that your wife?"
 "That's the problem," said Chad. "My wife is at home. The woman in the car is my girlfriend. Now let me have my chicken so I can get out of here."
 It is easy to look first-rate to people who don't know us. We can keep the high visibility of our misdeeds in check. Since we all want to look good to others, this ambition can provide a strong motive for self-discipline. But when it comes to the low visibility of our thought life, we are not as careful. After all, who is going to see what occurs in our hearts? So we settle for looking good on the outside but concealing a private world made up of thoughts we would not want anyone to uncover. Yet our fiercest battles lie in this low visibility arena.
 The answer to winning the battle for our secret life is to open ourselves to self-examination by God's loving and gentle Spirit. King David prays in Psalm 139:24, "See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (NIV). Sure, we would prefer not to hear any bad news about our secret sins. But we need to hear the "bad news" if we are to mature and be transformed by God. The willingness to hear hard truth is vital for anyone who loves wisdom. In the end, the truth may sound like bad news, but it is just what we need.