Faker

I was going to have to take this kid to the hospital.  It wasn’t the way he fell that tipped me off so much as it was the way he didn’t get up.  I ran over to where he lay, knocked to the ground by a larger boy who hadn’t seen him; he was face down and hyperventilating.  The unfortunate perpetrator stood by: a young boy who’d honestly hit his victim by accident.  He looked terrified; sometimes it’s hard to be the big kid.  Within a few seconds the sight of a panicked kid and a prostrate kid had won the attention of about a dozen boys and adult volunteers.  The panic on the older boy’s face increased, swelled, and then burst out of his face.

            “He’s Faking!” he told me, “He’s faking” he repeated.  It became a mantra

            “What happened?”  Asked the next kid to arrive

            “Nothing He's faking, I just bumped him.”

            “You just bumped him?”

            “Yeah he’s faking”

            “Oh, what a faker” (no joke, they said, "faker")

By: D. Sharon Pruitt

            In another moment the poor guy was surrounded by boys all eager to tell the next person who arrived that the guy on the ground was a “faker.”  Fortunately the camp nurse arrived soon, and he spoke to the scared boy on the ground instead of to the scared boy towering over him.  But the kid couldn’t answer; he could barely breathe.  Most of the immediate problem was panic.  Once the taunting crowd was dispersed he finally stopped hyperventilating enough to reveal that he’d hit his head and was feeling nauseous.  I ran to get my car and driving partner.  He had a concussion.

            Why is it so easy to blame hurt people for their injuries?  The larger boy was guilty of nothing more than carelessness, but he let his fear make him defensive.  I’ve said it before: Fear is a lousy motivator.  The big kid only did something wrong once he started blaming the crumpled and panicked boy at his feet.  

It’s an easy thing to do: to blame survivors for their wounds.  Hiring managers discriminate against certain races because they perceive those races as lazy, even referencing unemployment among that race to justify their prejudice.  There is a problem with this.  Rape survivors face ridicule when they tell about their attacks; they’re interrogated about where they were and what they wore, as if they need help blaming themselves for the unsolicited violence they experienced.  This is a problem.  The poor and hungry too, often find judgment when they look for mercy. So often struggling families are told to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, as though children deserve to live with hunger and fear because of their parents’ addictions or malfunctions.  This blame game is not acceptable.

Scripture says that we should each trust the saying: “Christ died to say sinners of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:15)  And we're urged to consider other’s better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).  It’s a hard word to accept but the Bible, in no uncertain terms, places every person on equal moral footing before God.  We're all equally undeserving of God's love.  No Christian retains the right to think of him or her self as better than anyone else.

This is not the part where I challenge you to give away all of your money and possessions. Jesus challenged exactly one guy to do that exactly one time (Mark 10:17-27) and the point that Jesus was making was this:  It is impossible for us to be good enough to earn God’s kingdom, but nothing is impossible for God.  God’s love and grace are free gifts that none of us have ever done a thing to earn.  Despite all of the kind and good things you done, God isn't impressed (Isaiah 64:6), your relationship with God is a gift.  You’re on spiritual welfare; we all are.

Challenge:

            Try to live the next 24 hours without judging or blaming others for their troubles.  We’ve received much mercy from God; we can pass it on.  Relying fully on God to work this good thing in us, let’s try treating our neighbors with the undeserved grace we’ve received.  Today, may we act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).  God Speed.

Jesus Came To Call . . . You?

He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

-Mark 2:13-17

Every culture likes to pick a couple sins to treat as different from other sins. In Jesus day “righteous” pharisees despised tax collectors, who were known to extort money. These same “righteous” Pharisees were known to steal money set aside to care for their aging parents. It seems absurd to treat one kind of stealing as different than another, but we still do this today. We treat one lust as different from another lust and one addiction as worse than another addiction. Jesus is not impressed with which sinners we decide to judge.

Challenge: Are you righteous or are you a sinner? Ask God to show you where you've judged others and ask forgiveness for doing so. May you always show others the same love and mercy you've been called to receive.

Jesus Heals A Man With A Shriveled Hand (On The Sabbath)

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. -Mark 3:1-6

It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong (Voltaire). We live in a messed up world where kindness and mercy are capitol offenses. We live in a world that has fallen from God's plan for it, a world which rages against love with every fiber of its being. Christ came to transform this corruption. He loved the unlovable and he showed mercy, even on the Sabbath. At the end of all that he sent his own Spirit to live in his followers. So although our world is corrupt, everyday, in places all over the world the light of Christ's love shines and dispels more of the darkness that once held this globe so completely. This light is in you too if you have been forgiven much. Nothing good lives in the sinful natures of man; if there is to be light, hope, and goodness in our world then we must let our lights shine. Dare to do good even on the sabbath.

Challenge: Show mercy to someone who doesn't deserve it, love someone who won't love you back, or attempt an act of unacceptable generosity. Let your light shine. The Lord is with you to empower your actions and forgive your failures.

Joseph Kony 2012 Scandal

My wife and I work with adolescents, and have recently joked that, it's become cool to hate nice things.  Though it started as a joke I've been amazed by how much truth there is in that insipid little statement. It is popular, and easy, to dislike things. Whenever I encounter a song, idea, or movement that appears to be above reproach, someone inevitably comes along and explains why they believe that the thing I like is dumb and terrible.

I recently posted about Invisible Children and their Kony 2012 campaign. Within hours of doing so I heard complaints about what a lousy organization Invisible Children is. I've read some articles, and I concede that Invisible Children is not the paragon of virtue I wish they were, but I don't think they're all that bad either.

The criticisms are these: IC doesn't spend enough money on tangible relief work, IC was intentionally foggy the facts of Kony's current whereabouts and actions, and IC fabricated the rumor that US forces planned to leave Uganda. As far as I can tell, all of these criticisms are legitimate ones. If you'd like, you can read about them in detail on foreignpolicy.com, Aljazeera.com and CNN.com.

What I really want to ask of you is this: if you can't stand to align yourself with Invisible Children, please find a humanitarian organization that you can enthusiastically support. I personally recommend World Vision, but no matter what, please do your homework. Charity Navigator and similar sites offer free reviews in order to keep charitable organizations accountable. Please do pray for Uganda and please do contact your representatives about Kony, the LRA, and whatever other issues you care deeply about. Finally, if you have spent energy criticizing Invisible Children, please spend twice as much energy in vocal and generous support of a superior organization. It is not enough to merely expose and discuss problems; we must diligently research and share good solutions as well.

Mercy - 2nd Sunday Of Lent

Beth is terrific. She wrote this for you:

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew5:8

Mercy is one of my favorite things in scripture. Seriously. It might actually be my favorite. At the same time, I rarely get more frustrated with a word.
As a teenager, I fought with my dad almost constantly. I remember once I decided to pull out “fathers, do not exasperate your children” (Eph 6:4) on him, in an attempt to get him to show mercy to me. He pretty quickly pulled out the fourth commandment on me: children, obey your parents. Neither of us were showing mercy. I was accusing, and he was accusing. We weren’t getting anywhere fast.
God isn’t like that. God knows that without mercy, we’re stuck. We can’t find the drive to try again, to love more, to share grace knowing that we’ve failed and all we can hope for is the reward of failing. So he gives us mercy, for every situation. In fact, he makes his mercies NEW for you every morning (Lamentations 3:23)!
When I meet unmerciful people, or people who are stuck and cannot show mercy, often I want to act unmercifully toward them. Every time I’ve followed that urge, I’ve hurt someone, and been hurt. But when I ask God to show them mercy, and to help me show them mercy, I see exactly why the merciful are blessed. God’s mercy is not just for me, but for my enemy. It is for you, and those whom you love, and those who hurt you. May you find comfort, joy and peace in the mercies God has new for you every morning.

Challenge:
Spend some time praying on these two: Have you held back mercy from someone? When has God shown you mercy that you totally didn’t deserve? How did that mercy come to you?