The Greased Bobsled?

Even though I don’t live there anymore, I try to keep up with the news from my hometown area of Hiawassee, Georgia.  The Internet has certainly made this a lot easier to do.  I’m thankful that most of the stories in the paper are good news, but occasionally I read a story that reminds me that even idyllic locations such as the mountain community I grew up in are plagued by the ravages of a fallen world.  Authorities in a neighboring town (Hayesville, North Carolina) responded to 911 call stating that a young man in the school system was threatening to burn down his own home with everyone in it and then go shoot up the local school.  He sought to enlist the help of two friends, both of whom refused and one of whom called the authorities.  In addition to this, a 17 year old was arrested in a neighboring county (Pickens County, Georgia) for attempting to hire a hitman to murder two of his high school classmates.  We know of numerous stories of bullying, assault, and all manners of abuse that trickle out every day.  These do not occur only in the public schools, but in Christian and secular private schools, playgrounds, neighborhoods, and sometimes, sadly, even churches as well.

Many respond with the knee-jerk reaction, “It wasn’t like this when I was young!”  The truth is, it was – there simply wasn’t the same 24-hour news cycle that covered it all the time.  I remember when I was in the seventh grade, a classmate brought a .38 stub-nose revolver to school, fully loaded.  He showed it off to some other kids (he was carrying it in the inside pocket of his denim jacket), telling them how he was going to shoot our literature teacher.  Thankfully, those boys he showed the gun to alerted a teacher and a tragedy was averted.  In addition, bullying and physical hazing was rampant in my day.  Rookie players on the football or baseball team were subject to “cherry bellies,” where all of the upper classroom took turns slapping the exposed belly of the underclassman as hard as they could.  The higher your class, the more times you could slap the person’s stomach (my baseball “cherry belly” resulted in numerous blood blisters across my abdomen and was accompanied by a healthy dose of a product called “Atomic Balm,” a product similar to Icy Hot or Biofreeze).  Verbal taunts were constant and caustic.

I provide these anecdotal examples not to downplay the seriousness of the situations we see today, but to remind us that in years past many of the incidents that receive coverage today were handled without much fanfare or swept under the rug.  We can be tempted into thinking that with each subsequent generation, the greased bobsled on which the world is racing picks up a bit more speed.  The problem with such thinking (aside from the fact that it may not be entirely accurate; cf. Ecclesiastes 7:10) is that it can cause us to despair rather than see God’s blessings for us (have you considered how amazing things are today compared to just a few years ago?).  It might lead us to think that people were just “better” when we were younger and now they are “worse” (when we are all sinful and have been since the Fall).  Worst of all, it might lead us to think that if we just returned to the way things were, everything would be much better.  In adopting that kind of attitude, we subtly focus on us rather than on Jesus.  There is certainly an argument to be made that faith has waned in America over the past couple of decades (though I would counter that what we’re seeing is a shift in the civil religion of the nation as opposed to the true faith of Christ), but that only underscores the point I am making:  apart from the regenerated heart that comes from God that allows us to put our faith in Jesus and have our sinful attitudes, desires, and actions transformed by Him, we will see the continued effects of the total depravity of humanity.  Instead of complaining about how bad things are, tell someone about the grace of God through Jesus Christ.  It is only through Him we will see any real or last change, and it is only through Him there is real hope.  Just something to think about…