At times we are urged, even shamed into taking a side. Some loud controversy comes up, which they seem to do weekly these days, and the forces that are passionate on both sides of the controversy try to pull you into their camp and garner your support. You must join these causes because you are wrong, even complicit in the current crisis if you don’t.
I’m not passive aggressive by nature, but that approach just doesn’t fly with many. People tend to go the other way when they are shamed or belittled because they don’t see things a certain way. Unless there is something in it for them, some status or some value, or they are protecting themselves from some embarrassment of some kind, they don’t feel right in joining the group of protestors. They may even share some of the values of the group, but they refuse to yield to the pressure.
While preaching for three decades, on one or two occasions, I would have a member come up to me and ask me why I never took a stand in my sermons on some current hotly contested issue in society. The one time that comes to mind, I did not have a good enough response for the man who was passionate about his subject and question and he threatened to leave the church. He did and never came back while I was there.
I felt the loss to a certain degree. I liked him and thought that we could have useful conversations but that ended abruptly. Perhaps it was worth it to him to make a statement and lose the relationship or influence he might have in my life and pastorate. I don’t know.
With the powerful platform that social media affords us, we get to say what we think about almost everything, anytime, anywhere on subjects we hear about anywhere in the world. And we can go on and on about it, till we wear out our little typing fingers or we finally run out of ways to insult others because they don’t share the same thoughts that occupy our brain so throughly.
There are two things that seem to be missing, a voice out there on any of these platforms that hasn’t really researched what they are talking about is more often than not going to do more damage for their cause than they are good. Almost all things are made clear over time and people are easily turned off to that same voice that was unreasonable and turned out to be worthy of ridicule or as we more often say, ridiculous.
Secondly, I think that my words and my voice and my influence are worth a whole heck of a lot more than to offer them up in such a haphazard way. Say what you mean and mean what you say, comes to mind.
My dad painted signs for a living and at some point he came upon the great idea of painting some simple one word signs and strategically placing them in my room when I wasn’t looking. On one, the word THIMNK was painted. Now he knew how to spell and he also knew how to get a desired effect. In this case, the misspelled word has stood with me when so much of his other guidance has long departed.
My essays, word of mouth communication, writing and social media posts usually reflect that I’ve been thinking about something, maybe for a long time. Of course, I am tempted like others to jump on the latest hot topic and make my thoughts known in print or my viewpoint obvious, but I don’t. I can’t remember anything like that anyhow. Please go back and fact check me if you find that doubtful. I just don’t. I don’t like looking like, sounding like and acting like a fool unnecessarily. And so much of what is said or offered is just foolishness. Maybe there is a place for some foolishness, I don’t know. But I don’t hunger for much of it.
I hunger for thoughtful, reasonable, well thought out, caring, purposeful conversation that builds and does not tear down. That’s what I Thimnk about that.