The Responsibility to Respond Responsibly
Today I heard something on the radio today about 'the blame game' and how since the beginning of our time we've been highly involved in the task of pinning the blame on everyone but us. Adam blamed God, Eve blamed Satan, the US Government blames Michael Brown... etc. I see it a lot in the corporate world when the most minor screw up takes place. It seems that the entire Katrina thing was a matter of weeks while people are still having stories about what went wrong... why is it so hard to move on and learn from the mistakes?
My guess is that when we're guilty it shows our true colors -- our nakedness. We don't have the authority, class or wisdom that people may have thought we had.
Since I accepted Christ into my life I've struggled with the fact that God doesn't keep track of our sin.. it never really made sense. Finally something clicked and I realized that its not about my sin at all but really it's all about how I respond to my sin and the sins of others. Do I really care about how my sin effects others? How are my actions responding to make change?
I've also been thinking about my responsibility to respond. Sometimes it seems that there's so much to respond to.... I just saw a story on CNN about skid row down in LA -- turns out other counties are dumping people here to get rid of them. One guy was dropped off with an IV in his arm... and who dropped him off? An ambulance! One cop down there caught two high-ranking officers from Long Beach dropping a guy off. How screwed up is that?!
Where is my influence? How much can I actually do? Am I playing the blame game by not assuming the responsibility for the pain and marginalization that I see around me? Who am I blaming? By doing nothing I am basically saying that someone else should -- and if nothing is done, it's their fault.
For the next while I am going to try and figure out where my sphere of influence is and what I can do to benefit the world around me.
My guess is that when we're guilty it shows our true colors -- our nakedness. We don't have the authority, class or wisdom that people may have thought we had.
Since I accepted Christ into my life I've struggled with the fact that God doesn't keep track of our sin.. it never really made sense. Finally something clicked and I realized that its not about my sin at all but really it's all about how I respond to my sin and the sins of others. Do I really care about how my sin effects others? How are my actions responding to make change?
I've also been thinking about my responsibility to respond. Sometimes it seems that there's so much to respond to.... I just saw a story on CNN about skid row down in LA -- turns out other counties are dumping people here to get rid of them. One guy was dropped off with an IV in his arm... and who dropped him off? An ambulance! One cop down there caught two high-ranking officers from Long Beach dropping a guy off. How screwed up is that?!
Where is my influence? How much can I actually do? Am I playing the blame game by not assuming the responsibility for the pain and marginalization that I see around me? Who am I blaming? By doing nothing I am basically saying that someone else should -- and if nothing is done, it's their fault.
For the next while I am going to try and figure out where my sphere of influence is and what I can do to benefit the world around me.