day no. 16,691: fussbudgets go broke

2 Corinthians 6:11-13

Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart is opened wide. You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections. Now in a like exchange—I speak as to children—open wide to us also.

Love leans in. It wants to believe. It looks for things to compliment. It seeks to protect the reputation of the beloved. It opens its heart as wide as it opens its mouth. It is not suspicious. It doesn't desire any dark secrets. It isn't seeking to justify a bad attitude by looking for a fly in the ointment.

"Fussers don’t have this largeness of heart. They fuss right and they fuss left. They fuss about their meals, they fuss about the traffic, they fuss about the sermons, they fuss about the lack of things to grumble about. Because this had happened at Corinth, the saints there had fallen prey to certain agitators who wanted to circulate their complaints. So Paul opened his heart wide, and poured everything out. And it was at that moment that he told them the problem was in their own twisted, constricted hearts. Open up, Paul says. Imitate him as he imitates Christ. Join him and his company of great hearts." -- Douglas Wilson, A Blizzard of Troubles

A fussbudget not only budgets for flaws, but invents them where they can't find any. Fussers take a lack of legitimate fodder as an occasion for illegitimate accusations. They bank their bad attitude on assumption and assuage themselves by pleading that they're merely being realistic. In Reformed circles, they may even hide behind the doctrine of total depravity liberally applied. 

But the company of great hearts have great faith. This is not to be confused with being insatiably naive. The doctrine of total depravity is as much a part of their creed as the fusser, but they don't place their faith in it, they place their faith in God, who saves and sanctifies dirty rotten sinners. Fussers place their faith in fault-finding. They insist that they can find a bent motive behind any behavior, yet cannot see the log of bent motives in their desire to discover specks.

Fussbudgets go broke. While they may account for withdrawals, they never make any deposits. They overtax and underproduce. They are not warm or welcoming to imports while being experts in exporting cold, calculating suspicions.