Screaming
Our culture screams of “whatever makes ME happy.”
Right now we’re going through a series of sermons at Fellowship called “The Worst Story ever told.” It’s about a story in Scripture that freaks me out and is perfect for this cold October month that ends with the most haunting holiday of the year.
The theme of the whole series, which one can find in Judges 21:25, is “In those days there was no king of Israel. Everyone did as he saw fit.” Basically the author of the story is sharing that, at this point in the timeline of Israel’s history, authority was nowhere to be found, and everyone did whatever they felt like doing. So the story starts with this one guy who wants his wife back, and after a few decisions that focus on him, it ends up in a huge civil war, costing the lives of thousands of soldiers.
This happens all the time when I watch shows like “CSI” or “Law and Order“. Each week a murder or a crime takes place, and it is the job of the standard (the police officers or the lawyers) to solve the mystery and to find out who decided to make their own measure of right.
Almost every week they catch the culprit (though when they’re feeling particularly creative, they hang the episode another week), and almost every week the accused cry of some way they were wronged and how they felt like this person needed to die or that they needed to exact revenge in some way. And the really good episodes show the pain of the others involved. The innocent friends or family members who were left without their loved one, whether by death or by prison.
There’s no end to the places we will go if our standard is ME. If the only measure to which I make my decisions is my own comfort or survival, then the ripple affect begins and the people it affects is much greater than just ME.
I think its time that the culture (and I) start screaming something else.
