'They' is you and me

I received the following at a meeting late last year. The person distributing it couldn’t recall the source, but I suspect it’s one of those forwarded emails. It’s entitled, “’They’ is You and Me.”

“God is just. It’s his character, who He is, and it’s something He wants us to pursue.

“Justice seeks to make wrong things right. It is us working throughout our lives to fix injustices in the world around us. Every time we see something that’s wrong, our first response should be to pray about it. Our second response should be to ask ourselves, ‘What can I do about it?’

“However, it doesn’t even occur to most of us. It’s like we look at things and think that it’s someone else’s problem, and we wish ‘they’ would fix it! We wish ‘they’ would do this or that.

“Have you ever stopped to ask, ‘Who is they?’ I think ‘they’ is us, you and me! You may not be able to fix everything, but you can do something. Don’t look at injustice and do nothing. You must do something because God did not create you for inactivity and passivity. He created you for enthusiasm, zeal and passion.”

That’s all of the message, except for a prayer, most of which I’ll quote later.

I thought it was interesting that last paragraph of the message quoted at the beginning of this article said, “They is us, you and me!” and then started talking about what “you” should do. We (including me) each have opportunities to do what we know is right. I’m not saying that we should do what’s right in our own eyes because that rightness (righteousness) comes from self-centeredness (Judges 21:25; Deuteronomy 12:8).

Self-centeredness misses the mark of righteousness that made this nation great in the beginning and will lead to our downfall (Jeremiah 10:23-25; Isaiah 64:6-7; 55:6-7). It’s well-known that many in our nation now practice injustice ranging from the abuse of welfare and Social Security (stealing from their fellow citizens) to outright meanness and immorality. Edmund Burke is credited with the saying, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” We need to realize the great benefits we have as citizens of the USA and focus on what’s right for our community, state, and nation promoting righteousness and justice with our voice, vote, and actions (Philippians 2:1-4; Romans 2:6-10; Proverbs 14:34; Matthew 5:20; 23:23).

Our prayer for the New Year (which is most of the prayer in the message quoted above) should be, “Please ‘don’t allow me to sit around wishing “they” would do something about the injustice in the world when I can do something. Fill me with boldness, and show me how to right the wrongs in the world around me‘” (Acts 4:18-31). If that’s our prayer, God will be for us in all matters because our desire will be to accomplish his will for us (Romans 8:31-33; 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:10; 5:8-17; Jeremiah 29:11).

Happy New Year!

Leonard Lauriault writes about faith for the Quay County Sun. Contact him at [email protected]