Tuesday, April 17, 2007

  • Encouragement, Blame and Photolessness

    1 Thessalonians 5:10-11
    If any group should be known for encouraging each other, it is the body of believers in Christ.  He died for us so that we may live together in Him.  So by what right do Christians so often discourage each other?  We are a people known for killing our own wounded.  If they're not wounded, you can be sure someone is willing to do the wounding.  Jesus had every right to tear down any of the disciples for their constant display of ignorance and self-centeredness, but He always worked to build them up.  That is the example we must set before us.  Those who are doing otherwise are not leading believers but failing them and Christ.  Sadly, each of us likely are in that group at some point.  We cannot expect to reach a lost world in compassion and love if we cannot show it amongst ourselves.

    The blame game
    The events of yesterday in Virginia were horrific.  I can't watch any more news coverage however because before they even knew the number of those dead, they were laying as much blame as they could possibly speculate at the feet of any official they could implicate.  I was disgusted.  We're a nation obsessed with blame, except perhaps with laying it at the feet of those truly responsible.  Never can we be found placing the blame at our own feet for any of the problems around us.  Do we disrespect those effected by this tragedy by reacting in such a way?

Comments (14)

  • Abbs90

    Awesome post. What happened yesterday was horrible. Its easy to blame it on the officials because we have no idea what it was like... I caught myself doing it...
  • Wyshe
    Yes.
  • reginabelissima

    My husband and I were just talking about that last night.  When he started telling the people he worked with what had happened, the first thing they asked was "Why did he do it?"  Followed shortly by "Why didn't they stop him sooner?" or "Why didn't they have a plan for that?" 

    It is amazing how quickly we look for someone's excuse ("He did it because..." or "He was angry at...") or how quickly we look to blame someone else for not stopping it, rather than calling it what it is: evil. 
  • babygirlbanister
    "We are a people known for killing our own wounded. If they're not wounded, you can be sure someone is willing to do the wounding."
    I'm ashamed to say, as a military wife, that I get the least support from the Body. Of all the various places I look to for encouragement and support, I rarely bother to look there. People just don't care. And there's always someone who's worse off somehow, gotta remind me how insignificant my pain is.
  • funny_guydude

    I think the fact that things like this can happen so easily is a testament to how safe it is in this country. We live our lives without fear of things like this happening.

    Isn't it a good thing that situations like this come as a shock?

    Some people in the world are numb to situations like this, to them it is just another day.

    We are blessed.
  • aaleonards

    I agree, it was horrific enough to hear about the events that happened at Virginia Tech yesterday.  However, the media's attempt at creating drama and controversy was quite...disgusting.  I too had to refrain from the tv.  I mean, I did want to know what was going on, but I had such a hard time watching what was already a terrible event become even more tarnished by a "blame game" of pointing fingers.
  • This_Is_Important
    I too had to turn off the television after so long because there was just no more to see. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Don't sit there with Fox News or CNN on watching the latest update on the death toll and listening to the latest cell phone conversation with a Virginia Tech student. Don't even bother watching the press conference with the president of the school and the police chief grilling them about how much sooner they could have responded. Instead, get out your Bible, read through the psalms, run your mind through the Phillippians 4:8 filter, and pray for the victims and their families. Then pray for your own family that they might live in peace in your local community.

    Like funny_guydude said, we are truly blessed to be able to look at this type of situation with indignation and shock.
  • Annalyn04
    Blame is a persons way of making sense of a terrible situation. It's not right, but it continues. It's terribly sad what happened, but laying blame at others feet is not going to bring our loved ones back, and it's not going to change the situation.

    Could of, would of, and should ofs are useless now.
  • WritingPassion
    Honestly, I totally agree with you.

    Do we disrespect those effected by this tragedy by reacting in such a way? I believe so. In a time like this, I would rather lay blame aside for the moment and start building up rather than destroying.

    Thought-provoking and nicely-worded as usual.
  • WritingPassion
    (Ironic that you and I are on the exact same page right now about building up/tearing down right now. I confess I barely read the top paragraph and yet we are still thinking about the same issue. I wish it wouldn't take something like a shooting to start a thought process like this.)
  • jamzjen
    hindsight is 20/20...
  • babygirlbanister
    I did get your email. Thank ya much! And no worries, I'll keep them to myself
  • This_Is_Important
    Honestly I had the wind knocked out of me when I heard about the events. I was upset for most of the day yesterday. Then I started thinking about how God is going to glorify himself through this. The most encouraging thing to me right now is all the people who are going to be saved as a result of these deaths. The confidence I have is that right now death- sudden death, for that matter- is at the forefront of a lot of peoples' minds. God has his people in the perfect place, be it the office, the classroom, even in the sanctuary this Sunday, to be a witness for him and to bring people to know Christ as their Lord and Savior. Lots of people are upset, hurt, and confused in light of these events about where they're going when they die, and what a wide open forum to start a discussion about the afterlife! I personally am getting supernaturally charged right now just thinking about it! 33 people died while 300 million didn't. It's time to start evangelising.
  • nana_trish
    I so agree.  Everyone even my co-workers want to blame someone.  The people, the school officials, the teachers.  It is so sad what has happened and so sad to watch the news media trying to get these students to talk bad about their school.  No one wants to take responsibility for themselves or their own actions.  Hopefully we will all learn something from this tradegy.

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