On January 12, 2007, commuters in a Washington, D.C. subway station had the opportunity to hear violin virtuoso Joshua Bell perform six classical pieces on his very expensive Stradivarius violin. Just two days before, Joshua Bell had performed to a full house Boston’s Symphony Hall, with tickets averaging $100. This day, he was performing for free but incognito.
Of the thousands of commuters who passed through the station that day, it is reported:
“The one who paid the most attention was a boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only one stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.”
As it turns out, the event was put together by Washington Post journalist Gene Weingarten as “an experiment in context, perception and priorities—as well as an unblinking assessment of public taste: In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?” Somehow the experiment affirmed observations by marketing surveys “that people will frequently designate one of two identical items as being distinctly better than the other simply because it is packaged or presented more attractively.” And so, simply because Joseph Bell was playing incognito in the context of a subway station (instead of a music hall), people’s perception of him was that he was just one of the many street performers and therefore did not warrant a real audience. They missed a special opportunity.
Sadly, that’s how many respond when confronted with the person of Jesus Christ and the truth of his Word. Preconceived ideas, personal perceptions and priorities, have caused many to disregard Jesus and his Word. Of his earthly ministry it is said: “he was in the world, and the world was created by him, but the world did not recognize him” (John 1.10 NET). Jesus describes the people’s response as “seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Matthew 13.13 ESV).
And when people continue to ignore Jesus, not only do they miss a special opportunity, they miss an opportunity with eternal implications.
—Keith Y. Jainga