I don’t know about you, but I love the media. It’s entertainment at its best. And have we been entertained this week! Ex MP taken to court for petty theft; a Hikoi to Wellington; newspapers breaching court orders, and a new Lions Club for gay and lesbian people! I know we all get absorbed with the big stories, but buried in the newsprint are some really fascinating local interest articles too.
These days however I am aware that behind the headlines and the bite sized articles are ordinary people; most of whom go home to families and eat ordinary meals. These people often live under great duress, which is exacerbated by public interest. That’s not new and probably isn’t going to change greatly, but it is a worthy thing to remember from time to time. The stories are nearly always human stories. Even more importantly, they are our stories.
Relational breakdowns, getting caught doing something “naughty”, picking your nose on camera, getting excessively angry with your kids, driving too fast, having a beer too many or a loud argument with wife or husband – are the ordinary sins of ordinary people.
I think of people who physically damage a baby through aggressive shaking in the middle of the night. I’ve got three kids and none of them were great sleepers. I have never damaged them, but I, like many ordinary loving parents, know the chaos of a sleep deprived mind and a screaming child. When I see some of these people in a courthouse dock I don’t think of condemnation, but rather of gratefulness. The hackneyed sentence, “There, but for the grace of God, go I” about covers it.
Some years ago my own life fell apart. Small things accumulated to become overwhelming issues and nearly crushed the life out of my family and me. A good friend came to see me in the midst of the crisis, looked me in the eye and said, “The only difference between you and me is that you got caught.” And I have reflected on this for some time.
Is that what life is all about, getting caught or avoiding getting caught? Is life about obeying rules so we don’t we’ll get told off? Those who follow the rules are celebrated and those who don’t are ostracised.
For a secular society that has rejected the values or “life rules” of Christian history to absorb a more inclusive liberalism, we appear to have developed a vastly more self-righteous society than we had before. In part it’s because that inclusiveness has been achieved through legislation rather than a change of heart. We now have more social rules to break than at any time in history.
To live a life of freedom is not to obey rules so we don’t get caught, it’s to know why we choose to live the way we do. Following Christ is not about rules but about living with grace. We live, we fail, we get restored and we treat others just the same. That’s my hope for society too.
© Digby Wilkinson 2007