Good vs Bad

Who’s the good guys? It seems like more and more that line is getting fuzzy, especially in our movies and television. In movies like ‘The Dark Knight’ or characters like Hank Voight from Chicago PD or Jack Sparrow from the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movies. Each of these, and so many others, toe the line between good and evil. And it seems to have seeped into our personal lives, too.
Most of my kids play online games against people they don’t know. And it can get fairly competitive, at least for those playing in my house (possibly including me). During one of these games, one of my children made the comment that he was gonna get the ‘bad guys’. I asked him if that made him the ‘good guys’ and he said, “Of course”. And we might understand where he’s coming from, to a point, but it also isn’t a fair judgement because he doesn’t know his competition. The only reason they’re ‘bad guys’ is because they’re on the opposing team.
And I don’t want to pick on him too much, but I think that shows the mentality that probably all of us have. It’s the ‘if you’re not for us, you’re against us.’ And, to me, that’s not a healthy view on life. And I don’t want to get too political, but as much as I support the Black Lives Matter campaign and the PEACEFUL protests that are taking place, I also struggle with it. Not because I’m against the idea at all, I simply worry that it could further divide us.
What I mean is that, obviously black lives matter. And I am ashamed by the racism that is still so prevalent in our culture. But I also wish we could see that we’re potentially causing further division by our wording. Further division by our focus. And though I don’t think whites or Latinos or Asians or others are being disregarded when we say black lives matter, I do feel like it can lead to an ‘us versus them’ mentality.
I saw a spoof piece on the website ‘The Babylon Bee’ with the title “Nation Wishes God Would Send Someone Who Could Unify People Across Races, Classes, Genders, Tribes, Tongues”. And I so wish that were true. I really wish that this nation was looking to God to send someone who could unify us across all those different lines. And then, hopefully, as we prayed for that, we’d realize that he already has.
And though it’s hard to see sometimes, that’s what Jesus’ final intent was. He did come to bring unity. The problem is that to have unity, WE play a part. WE have to be humble. WE have to submit. WE have to love others as Jesus loves them. And the more we do that, the more unified we can become. God bless.