It's Not About Right And Wrong, It's Really Not
As I walk through this current season of my life I am realizing more and more that right and wrong have less meaning than I had always thought and felt they do.
Now don't get me wrong. Lemme clarify.
- Sin is still sin
- Hurting people is still vile and evil
Those are not the "wrongs" I am talking about. The "wrongs" I am talking about are the decisions we make. Sometimes they are as simple as choosing which job to take. Sometimes they are who we date. Sometimes they are whether we drink that next beer, smoke that next joint, spend that money on that thing...
You see the world is full of opinions. Some good some bad. Some helpful, some poisonous. Some absolutely correct, others abysmally wrong.
Here's the thing.
People can be wrong. God is always right.
Now of course since I am a human, I can be wrong about this whole post! haha :)
So anyways, back to right and wrong. If your friend is an alcoholic you would be wise to tell them not to have another drink. That is true and correct. However... Only God know's what it will take for that person to change. They might have to drink 1,000 more beers before they reach that place where they are willing to change. Is it "wrong" for them to have each and every one of those 1,000 next beers? Yep. But does it matter? Really, does it freakin matter?
The answer is No, it doesn't. What matters is that 1,000 beers later that person gets help and changes their life.
Confused? Concerned? Sure, you should be. It's a messy place to think about.
Now to bend your mind even more. We cannot know whether the beer they are picking up is beer 1... beer 200.. or the most important beer, beer 1,000! Which is what makes human interactions so difficult. We don't know where people are in their seasons of life, their walk with God, or what their purposes are.
This is where we have to walk by faith and listen to the Lord. He knows which beer that person is on. He knows whether it's a good time to talk to them about it, or not. He knows the words to use, if it's time. You have to remember that
God plays chess backwards
But that's all fine and dandy right. But if right and wrong are not really that important then what is, right?
What matters is not right and wrong, not doing things perfect. Not speaking right and wrong to people. What matters is that we show people the love of Christ that He shown us. What's it matter if they should or shouldn't have another beer? What they need is people to love them, however they need to be loved in that moment.
You see we don't get to dictate what people need right now. Only God can do that. Some people need to be told the truth, some people need to be told it's wrong. Sometimes we have to tell people they are being stupid, and then follow up with helping them be stupid. Because they can't change their path at the time. What is better after all? To love and help someone, or to wall yourself off from them because they aren't doing the right thing?
Remember, they walked around a wall for seven days... that was the "wrong" way to bring down a wall...
Sometimes people have to do the wrong thing and that is exactly what God plans to use to show the world His Glory. I personally have been healed through hardship, mistakes and doing what others say is the "wrong" thing. Not so much for doing what everyone around me considered the "right" things...