I’ve always loved ornery people, the ones that have a kind heart beneath a gruff exterior. They can appear abrasive and unpolished to the timid and tamed ones who distance themselves from such people. The ornery ones live and move outside the orbit of the fearful masses. It’s the ornery ones with good hearts who are among the first responders to come to the rescue of a victim when a threat or injustice is taking place or when an uninformed mob opinion is attacking someone.

The ornery ones remind me of Peter in Scripture. At some point, they might need to be reined in, not by the fear of their detractors, but by the Lord. It is through their willingness to obey the Lord and allow themselves to be reined by Him that the tenderness of their heart is revealed. When fearful people try to rein them in, it doesn’t work. If the demands of the fearful ones are not met, they will attach a label to the resubmitted onery ones defining them as rebellious, and then discard them.

These ornery ones typically live at the periphery of what is acceptable by those willing to be controlled and have yielded their will to the wishes and demands of a manageable crowd. 

Peter’s personality was different than his spirituality. So is ours. We can confuse the two. Peter’s personality remained but he was always willing to yield to the voice of the Lord. Like it is for us, obedience is evidence of our love for God. Peter was ornery with himself. He did not let his emotional makeup or his personality call the shots and keep him away from obeying the Lord and doing what is right. 

We need onery people with good hearts in our lives. They are like a beloved cantankerous character actor in an old Western movie or a discordant voice in conversation who makes us think differently and consider new options. Their presence is needed and should be welcomed in the Church. The ornery ones are not so easy to corral with threats or a demand that they yield to groupthink. We need them to show us what courage looks like.