What I wanted to say Sunday...but didn't

There was something I wanted to say this past Sunday in my sermon, but because it was tangential to my main point I decided not to say it. It was in my notes, but when I got to it in the sermon, I passed over it.

The Apostle Paul had come to Jerusalem and taken four Jews into the temple to perform a purification ritual. Some Jews from Asia came and stirred up the city against Paul, saying that he had brought a Gentile into the temple (which was strictly forbidden). Luke writes,

29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. (Acts 21:29)

Here's what I wanted to say:

The problem with these folks from Asia is that they supposed something that hadn't actually happened. They saw Paul with Trophimus. They saw Paul in the temple. So they assumed that Paul had brought Trophimus into the temple. But it didn't happen. Their anger against Paul was rooted in an assumption which wasn't true.

There's a valuable warning here: beware of assuming the worst about a person's actions or motives without first making sure you've gotten the facts straight from that person. I wonder how much strife in the Church could be avoided if, instead of assuming what person X did or said or feels or believes, we actually went to that person and asked them about the situation rather than assuming things about their actions and intentions?

I think Christ's church might reflect our Savior a lot more if we took that simple step of communication. Don't assume the worst about a person; assume the best, until you're proven wrong.