The Color of a Cobra's Eyes

The world is fractured. Tensions are high, patience is low and goodwill is hard to come by.

By Greg Holder, Thursday, December 14, 2017

I like to think I'm up for an adventure every now and then. I will occasionally land in a situation that Alex, my oldest daughter, calls "iiiinterrresting" (as a reminder, we were the two knocked down by the sharks). I'll leave my issues for a therapist to find some day, but one afternoon in the mysterious land known as India, I might've gone too far.

The day was so hot, the air so saturated, that it seemed to weep on our shirts and skins. I felt as though I was being smothered. To our hosts it just felt like Tuesday.

But in the watery heat of that "normal" day in India, my day was soon anything but normal. As a surprise, our friends had arranged a chance to meet three snake charmers. Off the beaten path in a city most Westerners will never see, our small group now gathered to watch this strange, surreal performance. I am not recommending you seek this out. Frankly, whether such spectacles should be allowed has become a source of debate and controversy in India. I am not condoning the practice, obviously. But on that little path we encountered something straight out of the movies.

Three men sitting cross-legged on the ground. A monkey jumping back and forth. Soon the men started pulling snakes out of the baskets and boxes in front of them. As their small audience aahed and shrieked, the men handled these creatures with steely indifference. One began playing a short flutelike instrument. (The song is exactly like the one you're now hearing in your head.) On the other end sat a man with leathered skin that contrasted with his striking silver hair and beard. He could not have looked more the part had he been sent from Hollywood.

He was the main attraction.

I began to move slowly from our side of the proceedings to nudge closer, around to his side and then behind him, looking over his shoulder. A small python draped around his neck. I was just four feet away. Everyone on the other side was now laughing (admittedly one of my goals). He knowingly looked up at me with a half smile and a wink. He then motioned for me to sit next to him.

I did.

He put one, then two snakes around my neck. More laughs.

Then he took the lid off the basket.

For the first time (let's go ahead and say the only time) in my life, I saw a cobra rising up out of that basket. Eighteen inches from my leg.

Has time ever slowed for you to see and hear many things all at once? In that instant, I could not take my eyes off this creature with its hood flaring. The flute fella was still playing that song. The old guy next to me was still whispering and muttering things and occasionally smiling.

There are several things I will not soon forget—that hissing sound as the snake began to sway in front of me, the dread of seeing that hood flare open. I remember the charmer scooting it even closer to me and the immediate message my brain was telling my legs: Everything about this is wrong; will you please help this fool to scoot back? It is time for the many parts to work as one. Now.

But mostly I'll remember the eyes. I've never really paid attention to the eyes of a cobra. I've never been close enough to notice. I've never had one looking right at me. They were bluish. I was told later that's because he was getting ready to start shedding his skin. I don't really know. We didn't stay in touch. I just know my insides were screaming when I came face-to-face with that cobra.

That was an interesting moment. But I'm not sure I'd recommend it. In fact, as a public service to the rest of you, allow me to warn you now and suggest a few ways to avoid such an experience if it ever presents itself to you.

And in some ways, it will.

A Bad Neighborhood

We haven't mentioned a particular word group yet, but it gets much attention in Scripture. The practice of it is as deadly as they come to churches, teams, businesses, and individuals. What is it? I'll give you a hint:

It's easier to talk about someone than to him or her. There are many different words used to describe this behavior: slanderers, babblers, busybodies, gossips. In case you're wondering, none of these is positive. The Old Testament says to not associate with gossips.[i] The New Testament condemns "busybodies" who speak about things they shouldn't.[ii] And then there's that list in Romans 1:

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil.[iii]

It keeps going. This is a terribly uncomfortable and convicting list that describes what happens when people refuse to acknowledge God or allow him to work in their lives. And right in the middle are gossipers and slanderers. This is not exactly a good neighborhood, but it's where those words (and people) live.

The word we read as gossip is sometimes translated whisperer, and for good reason. In the Greek it is what your English teacher used to call an onomatopoeia. It is a word that sounds like what it represents. Like fizz or boom in our language. It is the word psithuristés, which really should be almost whispered, for this is a whisssssperer. The root of this word also meant the whisperings of a snake charmer to his snakes. Psssssithurissssstesss.[iv]

Why is it we don't pick up on the danger of psithuristés? We dismiss it as nothing because it is no louder than a whisper—but it lands on that list between murderers and God haters. It is just plain wrong. It is dangerous to you and me and the person we're talking about. It is dirty and slimy and way creepier than staring at a cobra. If only we could fully appreciate what this does to our souls and to our community and how it breaks the heart of God.

So here's your public service announcement:

If you are close enough to see the color of a cobra's eyes, you are too close.

Let us be wary: This seductive and subtle scheme was born in the mind of the serpent himself. The cowardly whisper of psst is more than a silly habit. It is deadly. And its practice indicates an unhealthy, unsafe community.

It's time for us to intentionally deprive it of the ability to thrive in our midst. Protecting the body from such poison will require wisdom and courage and consistency on our part.

For starters, let's look at a few (hopefully) practical thoughts that will protect you.

Beware of Christianese

All teams, businesses, and families have a language. These are the catchphrases and shortcuts known mostly to insiders. Christians have a language, too. Assuming you are part of a local church, it too will have a language. Hang around for long enough and you'll learn some of the buzzwords and phrases. Hang around certain people and you'll also learn one of the slickest and ickiest form of communication among Christians. If you know this language, you can tuck in a sneaky put-down or juicy update on someone's situation:

It may come dressed as a godly concern. "You haven't heard? Well, you can just imagine how heartbroken I was to learn that . . ."

It may come as request to just listen. "Who else could I tell but you, dear brother (or sister) . . ."

It may come as an invitation to prayer. "Join me, won't you, in praying for that church? I don't know if you've heard, but they just . . ."

In the above examples, the immediate payoff comes when the other person raises an eyebrow upon hearing the news. His or her lips purse together in faux concern. Now both of you are playing along. And both of you can walk away feeling morally superior to whomever. And for the briefest of moments, you are distracted from your own struggles.

But it does no one any good. Ephesians 4:29 puts such talk in its place: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Is the talk coming out of that person's mouth "wholesome"? Was that poor soul whose name was just dragged through the mud built up in any way? Did you need that update?

Horrible words wrapped in Christianese are still horrible words.