This morning as I was sitting in my recliner I got a waft of
something nasty. It didn’t take me long
to figure out that the little trash can beside my chair had a dirty diaper in
it. I was faced with a dilemma. I figured out that I had four main options:
1.
I could stay where I am sitting and just get use
to the smell.
2.
I could move away from the smell and sit
somewhere else.
3.
I could move the trash can away from me and make
it smell somewhere else.
4.
I could take out the trash and get rid of the
smell.
I’ll be honest, this isn’t the first time this has
happened. There have been many dirty
diapers in this little trash can and I have played out each one of the above
scenarios. The only one that has ever
had lasting results is number four.
Brad, now where are you going with this? I don’t have any kids who have diapers, this
doesn’t relate to me. Not to mention that what you have said is just common
sense.
Maybe that is what you are thinking.
This brings me to a few (well four) points.
Point #1
When something needs done in the Church or in our personal
life and we don’t want to do it, we have a tendency as people to just ignore
the problem. As time goes on the problem becomes to us less of a problem and
more of a small nuisance. If we
continue down this process sooner or later we start to believe there really
isn’t a problem at all. Now this may seem like a good thing. After all you
can’t see the problem anymore so what does it matter. Well, it matters because there is still a
problem and although you are now unaware, it is evident to everyone else and
the effects of that problem are still active and are probably growing
worse. The fact of the matter is: Ignoring a problem rarely makes a problem
go away.
Point #2
At other times we decide the solution to the problem is for
us to just move away from the problem.
We don’t like what is going on here or we don’t like how it ‘smells’ so
we’ll just go somewhere else where this problem doesn’t exist. We love this solution. If we get frustrated
with our Church we just go find another Church.
If we get fed up with our spouse, we just get rid of the one we have and
look for another spouse. We avoid
problems instead of trying to solve them.
Somewhere along the way we started believing that God wants us to be
happy and that means that we should abandon everything and seek after personal
fulfillment. That’s not the Gospel! That isn’t even a part of the Gospel! The
Gospel tells us to abandon ourselves (that means our goals, dreams,
aspirations, oh yeah and even our happiness) to Jesus Christ. That doesn’t mean that we won’t have these
things, it means that we are no longer in control of them. Better yet, they are no longer in control of
us. Abandoning the problem doesn’t solve the problem.
Point #3
A long time back we came up with another solution to our
problems; make them someone else’s problems.
We even have a term for the recipient: A scapegoat. If we don’t want to solve the problem we’ll
make sure that it is someone else’s responsibility. We love to point out how someone else has
this problem or how they have not taken care of the problem. We can easily go on our way happy if we can
focus our energy on what everyone else is or isn’t doing. If we would take a closer look maybe we would
realize that we are the problem, or at least that we could help in solving the
problem. But Brad, it isn’t my duty or
my responsibility it is theirs. Brad
they will never learn if I don’t let them do it. Aren’t you glad that Jesus doesn’t think
like we do? After all it wasn’t His sin that was keeping us from being holy
before God. It wasn’t His
responsibility to pay the debt we owed.
It wasn’t His problem. Now Brad
that is different! Is it? Is it really that different? God can give us grace, and we are more than
happy to keep it to ourselves. Making a Scapegoat or blaming someone else
for the problem won’t solve the problem.
Point #4
Now this is where the rubber meets the road. This is where the gears start grinding and
the work gets started. When we decide
that this problem is my problem, even if I didn’t cause or fuel it. That I am going to do everything with heaps
of Grace, Mercy, and Love so I can help.
(Let me note that I am not encouraging you to go dive into the lives of
others and pull out their problems, I promise you have enough to fool with on
your own without putting others under the microscope. I am talking more about
corporate problems.) We need to stop
being stagnant and apathetic. We need to
stop hopping around looking for a place without problems because it doesn’t
exist on this side. We need to stop
blaming and scapegoating others. It is
time for us to be proactive and take out the trash. Now let me stop and elaborate
on something, the trash I’m talking about is not a person or a group. I’m not saying you need to stand up in a
meeting and spout your opinion. I’m not saying you need to take over the
leadership because you can do it better.
And I am not saying you should run someone off. If you think that is what I’m getting at then
you need to go back and re-read point #3. When I say get rid of the trash I mean. Stop
being apathetic and uncaring. Stop blaming others and pointing fingers. Stop acting like everything is as good as it
should be. I’m talking about inward
trash, trash that you need to get out of your life so you can step up and do
what you should have already been doing.
I know someone will read this and think, “You tell them Brad, that is
what they need to do!” Here is your
wakeup call, if you are thinking that, you are the number one person I’m
talking to! I’m seeking God’s guidance
to get the trash out of my life; will you do the same in yours? Only
when we decide to become part of the solution, will we no longer be part of the
problem.
