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The world can seem so upside down at times. The crazy antics of a world filled of those succumbing to the false teachings of a Victim Based Society make it seem that the future is so bleak. Left in the hands of mankind, it is! But, that's not the end of the story.
Take a look at today's Bible reading with me now.
Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. Isaiah 59:15-16 (NIV)
That first line from our reading really captures the current climate when it comes to how we treat one another when trapped in victim thinking. Truth is the victim of those seeking their own way. Those who want to stand up for the truth in loving ways are shunned and persecuted by evil. Such is the way when we pledge allegiance to our Victim Based Society. Looks to me this has been the case from day one.
Our reading today was penned by the prophet Isaiah some 2500 years ago. You would think that over 25 centuries, we would be in a better position for change. Victim thinking was alive and well long ago. It is just as alive and well in today's age. Fail to learn from history and you are doomed to repeat historical events. Why can't we learn from that age old fact in ways that make victor living more of a possibility?
God, Himself is the He in today's reading. God is appalled at our apparent lack of ability to learn from our damaging and hurtful ways. It is as though He couldn't believe His eyes. That no one would be willing to step into their victor's role so completely as to bring salvation to the world was a fact that just didn't compute for our God. Amazing thing is that He chose to do it Himself. Salvation became the mission of our God. It so completely consumed Him that He gave of Himself with eternal backed consequences for you and for me.
God didn't condemn us for failing to learn from our past. He could have made things a lot easier for Himself were He to just give up on us completely like I'd have done to such an unruly and ungrateful creation. Not only did He not give up, He gave His all to make salvation possible for each and everyone of us caught in victim thinking. Why did He go to such lengths for us? One word describes God's motives - Love.
Our reading today points out an important fact about our efforts that we need to pay close attention to or we will fall right back into victim thinking ways. Righteousness is such a critical word for the person considering any path as a basis for being the foundation of who they are. It doesn't matter if you have a religious belief or not, thinking that your goodness is enough to make who you are have the kinds of impact on your live you so need is such a victim's way of thinking. Sadly, thinking that our righteousness is enough makes it so easy to cause victims of those who don't hold to what our righteous ways espouse a being truth.
You see it in religion after religion, including the Christian way at times. Thinking that our "truth" is paramount makes it so easy to disregard and even cause others pain in the process of defending that truth. The most obvious example of this fact is radical Islam. Truth, other than what is taught by radicalized leaders of this faith, is thought to be so divisive as to require death of those who hold an opposing truth.
Those that call themselves Christian aren't immune to such radical views either. From the Crusades to the bombing of abortion clinics, horrific acts of victimization have been done in the name of the truth we have taken and turned into a weapon against those who don't believe as we do.
If anyone listening to this happens to be cheering because they hate religion, you too are just as prone to atrocities in the name of your truth as is any religious person. Our views can drive us to do things that kill the spirit, if not the body, of those who dare to think differently than we do. Religious or not, letting our actions empowered by our truths turn our Victim Based Society into something that is filled with victim making opportunities.
I think that's why today's reading says, "...his own righteousness sustained Him." Our righteousness is as though filthy rags to this holy and untouchable God. This doesn't mean that we can't do good things based on the truth we hold. We can and we do. It is when we do from a place of love that a level of goodness happens that catches God's eye. That goodness will never be enough to prove who we are, but it is a start that I think we are missing today as fully as it was missing in Isaiah's time.
So, what's a person to do? I think that the ultimate action is applying trust. It is as we trust the arm of God and be covered by His righteousness that we begin to see the fullness of who we are. Identity based on something bigger than ourselves makes it easier to understand who we are when this world does things to make us doubt what we think salvation and right ways are to look like. Placing our trust in anything less opens the door to allowing our truths to drive us to do things to support that truth in victimizing ways.
Don't believe this truth that I'm sharing today? Your unbelief use to offend me to no end. It made me uncomfortable that you could believe something different than me. I wanted to think that there was something wrong with you and that it was my job to prove you wrong. I now realize my attempts at converting you were nothing more than the vestiges of victim thinking working into my relationship with those who dared to disagree with the truth as I saw it. I was willing to say and do things that might victimize you in ways I had experienced as I was victimized by others defending their truth. That strategy just doesn't work for me any longer.
I have come to a place where I see how far short all my actions at defending a truth has been. I am tired to working to make this world believe what I think my identity is suppose to look like. I'm finding that there is a peace in surrendering to the truth that I'm not enough and I need more. That peace just hasn't been matched by anything I have tried throughout my life.
I think my almost 60 years of proof of a truth shared 2500 years ago is evidence enough for me to want something different. If my choosing God being that difference isn't your cup of tea, I am completely OK with that. I would hope that we could have deep and meaningful conversations over our differences without having to defend ourselves like we might have done in the past. It isn't our job to convert one another. It is our job to relate to one another. We can't do that as we are stuck defending our position in ways fueled by victim thinking.
Our Victim Based Society is alive and well because of the fact that our truth has blinded us to a truth that matters. The reality is that we aren't capable to the kinds of love this God wants to lavish on us so completely. In fact, trying to make the kind of God's love happen in our lives is what takes truth and turns it into something damaging to those who might not hold to our truth. I sure do hope we can change this way of thinking. We change as we let God's love be more of the foundation for truth even when what we think is truth is challenged by those around us.
Whatever you believe or don't believe, I know this to be true. We have to stay open to each other. It is as we endeavor to relate to those who don't believe as we do that the world takes on a different appearance. This is so hard to do. It's a moment by moment kind of thing. It is so easy to get off track when we hold the truth we see up as being the end all and be all of what we think is behind that truth.
We aren't being asked to compromise on our truth. We are being asked to compromise on our defense of that truth. That's so hard to do because we have allowed our success at defending truth be what makes our identity be something we want the world to see. This is the pattern that makes our Victim Based Society something that is unmistakably alive and well.
As you go about your day today, realize that your truth will be challenged over and over again. When this happens, lean into God, not God's truth, but God Himself. If it is His arm that saves and His righteousness that sustains, then doesn't it make sense that we need Him? That's a good thing. Needing God is so right because His truth about us needs no defense. We are His victors because He calls us His Child. Let all you do today stand on the merits of what God says about you. Then you won't need to be in the victim making position of defending your truth to those you come against today.
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