I’ll be the first to admit that I would much rather find
someone to blame than take personal responsibility. Maybe I’m part of the
“entitled” generation, maybe I grew up around too many lawyers, or maybe it’s
facebook, but even in there, I tried to place the blame for my attitude on
anything but myself and my character.
The interwebs blew up yesterday with the news of the
endangered gorilla who had to be shot to protect the safety of a small boy who
made his way into the enclosure. And I was sad. A lot of people are sad. But a
lot of people (who were in no way involved) are also downright angry. I got lost in a couple comment feeds…
“Blame the mother!”
“make the parents pay!”
“it’s the zoo’s fault”
“negligence on all parts”
“Why didn’t they _____?!”
And then I was more sad. Sad because we aren’t capable of
just being sad in a set of crummy circumstances. We have to point fingers. We
have to place blame. We have to find justice (and of course, our idea of
justice is obviously ideal and fair).
I get it. When we realized we have major water damage in the
flooring of one of our rooms, I immediately tried to place blame. I wanted it
to be someone’s fault. I wanted someone else to have to pay. It’s only fair. I
shouldn’t be responsible to fix my own home. The inspector should pay. The
previous owners should have known.
Spill your hot coffee? Sue the restaurant. Trip and fall?
Whose sidewalk was it? Lost your job? Clearly, your boss was out to get you
(been there too).
I pondered this today, though, on this day we celebrate
and remember all those who have given their lives for our freedom. These men
and women fought for something greater than themselves, and outside their realm
of personal responsibility. Imagine if they had just sat back and whined about
all the injustices, or even sat on the front lines tweeting their “how could
yous?!”.
Imagine if police officers ignored offenses, or even just
pointed fingers at perpetrators, instead of actually serving justice.
We can sit around when our house is on fire and question who
is to blame, but there are firefighters who are going to fight to put the fire
out and make sure we’re safe.
The American soldier isn’t sitting back and questioning and
placing blame and telling someone else to do something about it. They’re standing on the front lines, willing to die to defend
our freedoms – freedom to speak up, freedom to vote, freedom to whine on social
media (though I somehow doubt that was why so many of our ancestors stood so
proudly for our country).
There are definitely injustices in this world. There are sad
things with no one in particular to blame (though we feel better when we can
point fingers). And sometimes there is even someone to blame. But sometimes
we’re the ones to blame. I know I am.
Imagine, perhaps, a world where everyone took personal
responsibility. We own up to our own faults and build our own character. Once
we’ve worked on that, perhaps we step up for something beyond ourselves. We
take ourselves out of the center of the universe, and start loving, serving,
giving of ourselves for someone else’s good.
Perhaps then, we might truly appreciate and honor the
American soldier.
Even more, we might understand and worship Jesus. Let’s face
it, often times we are the ones to blame. We’re the ones who told the lie,
shared the gossip, acted impurely, judged
someone unfairly, and worshipped ourselves and our self-proclaimed,
self-righteousness over the One True God.
Jesus lived a perfect life. He never sinned. He could have
easily sat in a little bubble of self-righteous indignation at the world around
him. But instead, he had compassion. He was saddened by our helplessness and
sin, and he did something about the injustices he saw. He did something on our
behalf. Not because we deserved it – no, we deserved death and eternal
separation from God. He did it to give us freedom. He paid our penalty by dying
on the cross, so that we might be viewed as righteous, and have freedom from
the bondage of sin and death.
What does this have to do with a gorilla? Not a lot, other
than perhaps a call to just allow the sadness to be just that. We live in a
fallen world where sad things happen. Injust and awful things sometimes. Stop
pointing fingers and realize that sometimes people are doing the best they can.
And sometimes they’re not. And without Jesus, even our best will always fall
short.
So celebrate those who serve for the greater good. Thank
those who put your life and your needs ahead of their own. When there are real injustices, fight against them in actions, rather than just worlds on a screen. Look at the needs
around you and consider serving or helping instead of just crying injustice at
the unfortunate circumstances.
Thank a soldier.
Thank Jesus. For only his death could bring us the ultimate
freedom. Then tell someone about Him - that's the greatest good you can do for someone.
And stay off of those comment feeds. They’ll suck the joy
right out of you.
For we know him who
said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his
people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. –
Hebrews 10:30
