Bob WeathersAway from home, Rufus is a criminal. But under his own roof, he is a prized pooch.
Rufus, in case you didn’t watch much TV last month, was named “Best in Show,” the top prize at the Westminster Dog Show held in New York City in February. In his owner’s home, Rufus eats steaks, romps around the house, and cuddles on the couch. More than a pampered pooch, he is a champion, the envy of all his doggie buddies.
Oddly, however, if Rufus went strolling in any one of 20 states in America, he could be locked up, muzzled, and maybe even euthanized. Why? Because those states have “breed specific legislation,” or BSL, designed to control certain kinds of dogs considered dangerous. These breeds include pit bulls, bull mixes, and bull terriers, those egg-head-shaped critters that you see on the Target commercials. And Rufus, the champion of New York, is a bull terrier.
His owner, Barbara Bishop, acknowledges that Rufus is “a wonderful pet,” but also that he is a marked dog. “There are places,” she says, “we won’t go because of the BSL.” Wandering the streets, Rufus could be mistaken for one of his canine criminal cousins. But with the right owner, under the right roof, he is a champion worthy of feasts and flowers.
More than guilt by association, this is guilt by bloodline. And we can understand that, right? Thanks to Adam and Eve, that is. Our bloodline is tainted. Left to ourselves, we are criminals, sinners, the outcasts of a garden where we were all champions.
Then the Owner steps in. Because of grace, we can come home, be treated like champions, eat the feasts of His house, the blessings of His home. It is all grace. We are suddenly champions again, though we deserve to wander the streets, homeless and hopeless. We can give up our criminal nature and have a new life.
Paul was staggered by the magnitude of this gift. He wrote, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25).
In Christ, we are forgiven and loved. We can come home. To the house of grace.