Complaints and Division

What complaints do you make when you look at the state of our world? And not just in the midst of a stay-at-home order, but, I mean, often when we look around us, we see the division, hatred, anger, fighting and all sorts of other issues. We wish the world was better. In fact, I believe it is innate in us to want unity and peace in the world around us. The problem is when we look at the chaos of the world, we also often look for the world to fix it.
And so, where does the blame lie? Some have taken to blaming God, which makes some sense to me. If he created this world that’s a mess, why can’t he do something about it? If he’s all powerful, all knowing and all loving, surely he should do something about it. In fact, often we personalize it by thinking, ‘If I were God, I’d do something.’ And that’s part of the problem with that argument…we’re making God simply super-human rather than the divine being he is. And I don’t know if that makes sense, but my point is, if we truly understood the balancing act God must endure, we’d probably better understand what’s happening. God’s role as creator and sustainer of the universe needs to be balanced by the choices of those that he created, AKA free will. And that balance, tied with his unconditional love for us, makes a simple fix impossible. And I don’t have time to share huge theological truth here (I strongly encourage you to ask a pastor or church leader if you have questions about this), but my point is, maybe God isn’t to blame.
And if he’s not to blame, who is? Maybe it’s those liberal Democrats. Maybe it’s those hyper-conservative Republicans. Maybe it’s those living in Chicago, or our governor or a certain ethnic group or closed-minded people or ‘kids these days’ or even our pastors. But maybe, just maybe, it’s all of them. And all of us.
If we want to cast blame on someone else, it’s important to remember our role in the problem. And we, individually, did not cause the huge rift in our political system or the prejudices, fear and hatred between ethnic groups, but if we’ve not worked to restore and sustain relationships around us, we’ve added to the problem.
And so, as I point the finger at myself as much as anyone, I want to encourage us to remember that the problems in our world are ultimately heart problems. They are the result of selfish attitudes and fear that lead us to the divisions we face all around us. And we can’t fix the whole thing ourselves, but we can work at fixing the relationships we have with those around us, even while staying at home. I pray we all work toward that. God bless.