29 June 2016 | St Albans, UK [Victor Hulbert] The most unchristian thing I do each weekday morning is switch on the radio. I do it for one purpose: I want the travel news.
“A lane blocked on the M1 heading south.” Good, that’s not me. The perennially slow traffic on the M25 approaching Clacket Lane Services. Fine! I don’t travel that way.
Three lanes blocked on the clockwise M25 approaching junction 17. “Oh no! That’s my route. Terrible!”
And it was terrible. Terrible for me this morning, stuck in a long queue, needing to get to the office for an important meeting. Terrible too, because when, almost an hour later, I passed the accident, there was a mangled wreck of a vehicle, three ambulances, and clearly lives damaged or destroyed.
My concern had been simply being late to work – yet what about the person in that car who may never go to work again? I challenge my Christian attitude every time I listen to the travel news. Shouldn’t I be praying for those hurt? Why am I rejoicing that the problem is somewhere that doesn’t affect me?
It is, I suppose, a natural reaction, but it’s one I’m uncomfortable with and feel I need to fight. I’ve equally seen it manifest itself in several other ways in the past few days.
Yesterday I saw a big poster on the side of the motorway. “Britain has left the EU. Praise the Lord!” It was the ‘Praise the Lord’ that struck me in what is now called a post-Christian country. Even more so, because there are Christians and non-Christians on both sides of the debate who may be feeling hurt. Social media certainly seems to indicate or generate plenty of hurt – and many non-UK nationals are currently feeling vulnerable. True as it may be, is it time for me to jump on the Daniel 2 bandwagon with an ‘I told you so’ prophetic message, or to reach out the caring hand expressed by God in Leviticus 19:34, to love the foreigner just like you love your own people. This is not the time to gloat or to get angry – but rather a time to provide support and build bridges.
The same love issue has hit me twice in recent months when colleagues I have worked with have handed in their resignations for ‘personal’ or ‘family’ reasons. The reaction is similar to switching on the traffic news. “I’m glad that’s not me,” followed by some gawking as we pass by the accident. The speculation and rumour mill starts, sometimes letters and emails are circulated, and by the end of it possibly a great number of people are hurt.
Again I feel very unchristian in such a situation. Nosy human nature wants to know the deep reasons – but is it really any of my business? An individual, possibly a family, is hurting. Maybe even a wider community. Perhaps as Christians we need to react more in the context of the Christ who said he had come “…to proclaim good news to the poor… freedom for the prisoners… recovery of sight for the blind… to set the oppressed free.” [Luke 4:18 NIV]
I did feel a second bit of anger this morning, or at least annoyance. Due to the accident, all the motorway traffic needed to filter from four lanes down to just one. A significant distance before the accident drivers had managed to filter into two lanes – obeying the electronic signs on the overhead gantry.
I sat patently in my car listening to the news – the consequences of Brexit, the collapse of the UK Labour party, possible nominations for a new Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party – when suddenly both a motorbike and a taxi came racing up the otherwise empty inside lane – shooting past the queuing traffic.
“What a nerve!” I thought. My anger felt righteous, and when I eventually got close to the police cordon I was secretly delighted to find that both the motorcyclist and the taxi driver had been stopped by the police and were being given a severe lecture.
Perhaps I need to take to heart Paul’s message in Galatians chapter 6. The first ten verses wonderfully balance justice with compassion and mercy. The first two are particularly important.
“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.”
If I was on the receiving end of the traffic accident – or the police lecture, how would I want you to treat me? If I’m on the losing side of a political campaign, or even a church election, how would I want you to treat me? If, as in Galatians 6, I’ve been caught in a sin, how would I want you to treat me? How can we best ‘bear one another’s burdens’?
This is no grace orientated cop-out. Paul does make clear in the following verses that ‘God cannot be mocked’ and that ‘a man reaps what he sows’ [Vs 7]. He makes clear in other letters that sometimes discipline is essential. Actions have consequences. [See, for instance, 1 Corinthians 5, 1 Timothy 1:20.] But his underlying message is one of redemption. “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” [Galatians 6:10 NIV]
Perhaps I need to adjust my focus, even while listening to traffic reports. More importantly, what is my focus in my interactions with other people’s lives? For me I’ve chosen to take seriously one final recommendation from Paul: “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” [Romans 12:1 Message] My prayer is that such a commitment will make a difference, not just to me, but to everyone I come in contact with – saints or sinners. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, director; Esti Pujic, editor
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