I enjoy the letters to the editors of news magazines. First come the pro letters followed by the cons. It doesn’t take a genius to soon realize that it is not only possible but plausible to believe nothing anyone ever does is criticism proof. One man’s dish of ice cream is another man’s poison and people aren’t reluctant to tell you about it. If one is a public figure one inherits an instant hate club. It doesn’t matter what one does; there is a way to negatively spin it. This, of course, is not new. Have you ever read the stuff our founding fathers wrote about each other? It’s downright modern trash and teaches us there is, as Solomon said, “Nothing new under the sun.”
If people had been watching God create the earth some would have applauded while others complained that it took too long. Seven days! Really now. What a waste of time. He should have done it in a day. Can you imagine God allowing Jesus to be born in a stable? Come on – that is so degrading. And why did Jesus allow Mary and Martha to suffer the death of Lazarus? He really should have hurried to Bethany and spared them the pain. Obviously we could go on and on.
I think some people just love to find fault. As a psychology teacher I wonder if it compensates for their lack of self-esteem by keeping them focused on other people’s supposed faults. But what do I know? I can imagine my students have a huge litany of my shortcomings. What is more than a little bit scary about all this is I hear this stuff from Christians and I wonder if they really are. But there I go becoming one of them.
Written by Roger Bothwell on April 13, 2011
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org