What an awesome day in Melbourne. So much to be thankful for and yet I can’t but help to think how often we take life for granted. How we are in a habit of complaining when the road ahead has a few bumps in it. Last week I was at the station at 5:20 to catch the 5:22 train, only to hear that there was a problem and there would be no trains departing for the rest of the morning.
Obviously it’s a bit of an inconvenience because I needed to change my plans in order to get to work on time. In the past I would have freaked out and complained, which, by the way, so many people did. But the way that I look at it now is that it’s an opportunity to grow and test my maturity in Christ. That’s right – a normal day-to-day incident can do that. I realised how many mornings the train is actually on time and there, ready to depart and I never seem to compliment them for that. Yet when it’s late once, I freak out. Anyway, how would it change the situation if I did get upset? It would only make my day worse, not make the train go.
You see, that’s the mature way of looking at a situation like that. Now, I do agree that when a person is blatantly treated unfairly, then it is necessary to stand up and challenge that. The fact that I am a Christian doesn’t mean that I need to be somebody’s doormat.
Social justice is something that Jesus stood up for all the time. In fact, God even tells Israel (and that applies to us also) that He is tired of our religion and offerings and worship. We do things one way and we act in another. He says that true religion and faithfulness is speaking up for those who cannot speak up for themselves, feeding the hungry, visiting those in prison and looking after orphans and widows.
We can, and must, stand up for what is right, but we need to do it in the right way.
It’s not the easiest life being a Christian. It sounds like an oxymoron having to balance “questioning what’s wrong” with “being thankful” and “acting in love” and “not being a doormat”! But with wisdom coming from serving God, and gratitude for the grace He has shown us through the cross, it can and must be done.
Mark Davidson
