Today’s chapter is a continuation from yesterday concerning this passive/aggressive way of interaction that we tend to have with each other. I appreciate the way in which it is laid out as it mentions parents who live that way in front of their children, and the implications it has as outcomes for them.
It starts off addressing one of our first problems…
“In modern life, individual desire has become the standard and rule for everything.”
How are we to live out the standard of serving one another as a standard if the above is the standard? Great question. Then the observation from the view of the family unit, if passive aggressive ways of handling conflict are the only things children witness in their home a natural result of that is a constant posture of withdrawal. It’s a place where little souls get hardened, discover loneliness and are set up for addiction, anger, isolation and all sorts of self-destructive behaviors. These witnessed behaviors become the source of understanding whats normal and the cycle is extended into a new generation.
Maybe it feels like childhood homes get too much blame, BUT, how often do you witness your children following your exact behaviors, words, and mannerisms? Monkey see, monkey do… so how do we fix it? That’s part of the next chapter, but the close of this chapter points to Jesus in a story.
Jesus was in a synagogue on the Sabbath. a woman who was crippled for 18 years came in and Jesus healed her. In this great moment to rejoice one of the crusty leaders calls him out for healing on the sabbath. Enter the world of the passive aggressive. Jesus could have just ignored him and walked away not wanting to stir up any commotion or make anyone feel bad(passive). Jesus could have been overly upset, through a tantrum, call the leader a bunch of name to humiliate him or cast the same sickness on him that had been on her (aggressive).
Jesus did something, he did speak up. “You’d water your ox on a Sabbath wouldn’t you, but you won’t let me free this woman?” Are your animals more important than people? Your norms have become foolishness. Jesus wasn’t going to act like that wasn’t true, bury his head in the sand and let the witnesses of the event wonder if their religious leaders were right. And he didn’t resort to name calling or visible judgements falling on people. (although it says his opponents were humiliated, but that’s what happens when your wrong about something really important.) See yesterdays blog.
There is a need in society to understand a third way that’s not simply passive or aggressive, but a third way that does like Jesus does in this story where a heart of love and compassion was able to override the cultural norms and press into Kingdom values and not just rules set up by humanity. A third way, a God-like way to interact with history and reveal His-story.
Truth, Grace, and Time 