What's More Important?

I run into something now and then that completely pisses me off. Yes, pisses me off. It's putting things like nationalism, freedom, government, and its laws on this pedestal, making them false gods and using them to excuse actions, or lack of actions, and a bad attitude.

We do that kind of thing a lot when we start sentences with "you can't" and throw in a "because". You can't sleep here. You can't come in here dressed like that. You can't come in here at all. You can't live here. You can't, you can't, you can't. Why? Because. Undoubtedly "because it's against ", be it anything from company policy to federal law.

You know what though? I don't believe that's the real reason at all we use that standard line. If people had that much respect for rules and laws to chalk them up as real reasons for "you can't", we'd drive a whole lot slower on the freeways, stop talking on our phones while we're doing it, and never jaywalk. None of that's ever going to happen. Instead, I believe far too often we hide behind rules and laws as an excuse -- something to cover up the fact we're uncomfortable with the situation and just really don't want to be loving our neighbor at the moment. If we justify it with a "you can't" and a "because", the problem goes away so we don't have to think about it or deal with it without feeling bad.

We in first world countries do this kind of crap all the time to the many types of outcasts in our society, often without realizing it. Maybe we don't like coming outside of our box to see the real world around us. Maybe doing that makes us realize that there are people in need and we should be doing more and giving more, but we won't want to hear that. Maybe doing that makes us think we'll have to give up a bit of what we think "is ours" and we don't want to do that. Instead, we hide behind a system.

It's hogwash. Did not David eat the bread of the presence from the temple? Did not Jesus heal on the sabbath? Did not the disciples glean on the sabbath? Why? Lawbreakers going against the system! Why? Because human need is more important. It is more important to God and it should be more important to us.

So before anyone hides behind some policy, protocol, or government, including myself, I suggest they take a look at the people involved and the motivation behind their actions. Generalizing, detaching, and passing the buck and the blame to faceless systems is sinful, plain and simple.

Grace and Peace