March 3, 2021
My father, more than once, told me that a person is only as big as the things that bother them. This statement reminds me of the verse about trying to remove a speck from someone else’s eye while we have a log in our own eye.
I am amazed at the things some people find to get offended by. There are real things out there that should offend us. There are real things out there that should bother us to no end. There are things that we should take action on. And then, there are things that deserve a face palm, a head wag, or even an eye roll.
Why is it that we can waste time on such trivial matters? Quite simply, it is because God has blessed us so much that we have time and energy to spend on the mundane. Most of us have been blessed with an abundance of food. Most of us have never had to worry about where we would sleep. We have not had to cower in fear over who was going to break into our homes to take our stuff or our lives
This is not to say that no one has ever had to worry about such things, but for the most part, if we experienced this, it was a one time or short time event.
Many kids today have the privilege of being picky eaters with long lists of what they won’t eat. They obviously have never been hungry. Many are super particular about brand name clothes and shoes. They obviously have never been cold and needy.
So, what do we do with our privilege and blessing? We sit around and debate what books someone else can read, what music someone else can listen to, what toys someone else can play with, what posts someone else can “like”, what statues can be erected, what history can be taught and so on and so on.
I wish that I could say that I was perfect. I am not. I wish I could say that I never said a bad thing about someone else. I cannot. There are a lot of things that I would like to say about who I am, but I know better and any of you who have known me for any length of time know better too.
One of the things I like about the Bible is that it presents God’s people just as they were with all their imperfections and failings. In today’s culture none of God’s chosen would be able to hold public office, have a Twitter account or be on prime time tv. And yet, these were the people that God used to change the world.
If you are going to be bothered by something, stop, take a look around you, ask is this the most pressing thing that I have to be bothered by today. Chances are, it is not. Be bothered by hate. Be bothered by injustice. Be bothered by suffering. Let the world worry about the gender of a plastic potato. We have people in our lives that need the Lord and that is all we need to worry about.