In light of recent terrorist attacks on our Embassies and endless political rants everywhere, there seems to be a common thread when tragedy strikes or when someone we don't like may get elected or re-elected into the White House. We get scared. And it's obvious when we are scared--because we start to fight. It's the fight or flight reflex. Some people choose to go balls to the wall (yes, I said it), and yell at anyone who disagrees while also defaming the "other side". And some people choose to just say nothing.
I personally don't think either side works long term. Anger or escaping may give us a sense of power in the moment, and sometimes both are needed. However, if we want to change anything for the long haul, we need to use our voices. I say "our voices" not in a snide "This-is-who-I-am" way, but in a "I-want-to-contribute-way". We have not understood what it really looks like to have a powerful voice. We've fallen prey to the Victim Mentality, and I seriously HATE the Victim Mentality. It steals all that a child of God posesses or is on quest to posess. When believed, it turns people who were created to be Champions into whiny, wimpy, complainers. And then, it attracts even more devastation. It's ugly and vicious and relentless...until we make a choice to stop it.
And that is what I'm proposing.
I'm tired of blocking people in my Facebook feed because they only choose to argue or dishonor one another in the name of "politics". I'm also tired of having to cut people out of my life who cause drama or who make unkind decisions because of their lack of maturity. Let's grow up. Let's be a community, a real one. Let's take a stand, and let's get back what we've lost.
Again, that doesn't mean fighting. Fighting is derived from a sense of powerlessness. We're better than that. From what I can see in my little chair, there are several issues that seem to strike the politics cord more than others. And by politics, I mean anything that strikes in us a fear to perform, people please, argue, rant, overcompensate, defame, or kill one another. Jesus said if we hold evil toward our brother, we have killed in our heart. We cannot fully blame Jihad terrorists when we do the same thing to one another. We are just as guilty. We desperately need to stop looking at this life in a temporary way but in an eternal way. Life on Earth is not The End. When we believe that it is, we give way to fear and unrighteous anger. When we realize that we were ultimately made for what is BEYOND this, we can let go. We can grieve and work through sadness until Joy starts busting down our walls. It is our choice; it is always our choice. It has always been our choice.
The world isn't going down the tubes because God doesn't love us, it's being shaken because He absolutely does love us. We need to see things from His perspective. We've created our own mess, and though thankfully we don't have to lay in it forever (if we so choose), we do have to take responsibility---and then receive the Grace to make things better. He didn't die for nothing. This isn't the End of the Story, it's just The Beginning. Remember? He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
I realize that some people say "Ok, fine, but I have no idea how to do that." Ok then. Here are some small solutions to gaining power back into our lives. If you want to bring Heaven on Earth, I have some Alternative Solutions--because utimately Love Wins ( I loved that book, by the way. Read it twice).
Let's start with the hot topic of the century, Life.
If you consider yourself pro-life and are saddened by the abortion debacle, here are a few ways I have found power in creating and bestowing Life in my midst. I give my children a place of honor. We don't just save a life from abortion, we steward that life well throughout his or her lifetime. Find ways to watch your child flourish; it will indeed enhance your perspective on love. We spend a lot of time dishonoring our kids by not listening to them, pushing them aside to do whatever it is we think is important, and not valuing who they are and what they have to contribute. If that seems to be going well, consider adoption or foster care. If adoption doesn't work in your current life situation, then consider giving to those who do. I have handfuls of friends who have adopted or who foster kids; I can give you their address, and you can send them a check. Many of them have used their own funds to buy back children from society's "unwanted pile". If you don't have money but you have time, consider blessing a single mother. I'm sure you can find one. If you can't, let me know, because I know single mothers who are not only single, but they are also adopting kids. Talk about making a difference. We are not powerless. We are waiting to give birth to real Life.
While we are waiting, why don't we also take in those that have had abortions and regret it (instead of shoving it in their faces). Abortion hurts not only the baby but also the mother. Why don't we take the plank out of our own eye while we nurture the speck in our neighbor's eye. That IS in the Bible. If we choose to believe the Bible is true, well then, we choose to believe it is true. Correct? We don't get anywhere without nurturing one another through nurturing our selves. Self-hate and hate for others has no place in Heaven, and we are creating Heaven on Earth. I believe that those babies who didn't make it on this side of things aren't trying to punish their mother's for misunderstanding their worth--but are instead praying that they would get a chance to see how loved they are here and now. (The Kingdom of God belongs to children.) If mothers could see that, abortion wouldn't happen in the first place. It's all about the Victim Mentality. There's a devil on every shoulder trying to convince us that we have no other choices. Women to do have a choice. We ALL have a choice. Life isn't just about women, it's about all of us. We need to stop blaming each other and start helping each other.
If you're a man, and you don't know how you could possibly speak into the life of a recovering victim of abortion, then perhaps you could find a Big Brothers Club. I bet there are a ton of kids who would love a Fathering role model. One game of basketball a week could mean turning a child into a president instead of a drug pusher.
I could go on and on with lists of alternative solutions to just this one topic (which I believe is the start of everything), but I'm sure you can think of some of your own. Ultimately, though, my heart grieves for the fact that we've turned our lives into arguing with one another when it's never really about us. We fight not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities in dark places (another Bible verse). Let's hate what needs to be hated, the destruction of the beauty of God's creation. Let's love one another.
If we want to be angry, then let's make our anger legitimate. We are not victims, we are children of God. All of us.
And when we understand that, we can steward Life.
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