If you know somebody who doesn’t know that Russia is Enemy Number 1 today, ask them their life secret. Perhaps you should spend more time with that person. Somebody with no awareness of life beyond his property line probably has a certain level of peace most of us lack. I’m jealous of them. Turn on any western media today – whether it be Mainstream (the opinions of the elites), Alternative (the opinions of the upcoming elites), or Social (the opinions of everybody else) – and you’ll quickly see the uniformity of messaging. Russia is bad.
But turn on Russian media or talk to Russian sympathizers, and you’ll hear a different narrative. Maybe you’ll hear about the threats of NATO creating unbalance in the world order, or criticisms of western one-world-order ideologies, or stories of Ukrainian nationalists persecuting Russians in eastern Ukraine. You might hear a different perspective about borders and dates than what western media allows for. You might hear about Biden’s corruption with the Ukrainian government. It can quickly turn into a he-said, she-said situation with no productive end. Forget it. Simplistic outrage is easier, whatever side you’re on.
There are stories of conflict, suffering, and injustice, both in Ukraine and Russia today, and around the world every day. I don’t say that to be dismissive of the current situation in Ukraine, but rather to say that the evil that we’ve seen unfold in Eastern Europe over the last week, is active globally every day. In some sense, America is the worst. In proclaiming liberty and justice for all, we murder 2 innocent babies every single minute. For the 10,500 live births that happen in our nation every day, Americans kill nearly 2,400 babies that same day. We murder almost 20% of new American life. Liberty and justice for all? Our high-horse hypocrisy puts us first in line for hell. Before we go raging against Putin or Ukrainian nationalists (choose your poison), there’s a log in our own eye needing to be addressed.
But we aren’t told to be outraged about our sins, or most of the ones happening in the world, so we hold our peace. There is a constant darkness at work in this world, that those of us in our cozy Shire have the privilege to disassociate with on a daily basis. But when the 2-Minute Hate comes on the screen, when our overlords tell us to be concerned, you best grab your pitchforks and wave them high. Yell loud and condemn whichever face they show you. We can pat ourselves on the back afterwards for a job well done in our moralistic outrage. We’re good people. We stand on the right side of history.
You think pointing out our own national sins in light of current events is dismissive on my part? I can do one better. How much of the condemnation of the Russian government is coming from fathers who are negligent of their responsibility in ruling their own households well? How many of the mothers reposting the horrors of the Russian military were just lashing out in anger at their own children for not doing as they were told? It’s not just the world or our nation that is full of sin. Our own hearts and lives demonstrate that any judgement we cast, should be cast first on ourselves. Before we condemn others, we should be sure that it’s not just our lack of opportunity that is keeping us from doing even worse.
The darkness in the world is complex and nuanced. Good and evil is simple, but it’s not simplistic. Crowds love simplicity, but individuals want exceptions. When we start thinking about the sin that we are responsible for, our mind is flooded with nuance and self-exception.
“I was an absent husband and father, and now my family is bearing those consequences. My children have veered from the home and the faith. Well, I had to provide for them, and so, was consumed with work.” Nuance. Exception.
“I was an irritable mother, snapping and nagging at my kids, and now they resent me. Well, my husband was never home, it was just me bearing the weight of the family, and I was young and immature.” Nuance. Exception.
“I resent my parents, insult them, and am embittered about my childhood. Well, my childhood sucked, my dad was never home, and my mom was a dread to be around.” Nuance. Exception.
“Us American murder thousands of babies every day. Well, there are insecure and frightened single women who grew up with an absent father, and don’t know what to do.” Nuance. Exception.
“Putin invaded Ukraine. NO EXCUSE!”
It’s easier to be outraged at the sins of another, especially when it’s arbitrary and from a distance – both physically and contextually.
Some will still sneer at me for my presumed dismissive attitude. There’s not much I can do about their contempt. The best I can do is clarify, yet again, that I’m not saying the situation in Ukraine isn’t that bad. The suffering happening in Ukraine is severe, horrendous, and grievous. My dad is from Donbas, the place this all spiraled from. My father-in-law’s family is currently in Ukraine – unable to access their bank accounts, with stores out of groceries, and their nation under duress. The situation in Ukraine is worse than bad. What I’m saying is our entire situation is even worse than what the news tell us.
Our hearts are full of evil and our world groans with the curse. Instead of demonstrating how Russia and Ukraine should be at peace, we have Slavic people lashing out at each other, arguing about the unfolding situation. Just give them guns and tanks, and it’ll look the same.
Choosing arbitrary sides driven by the media messaging of the day does not seem like a viable way to live. Instead, our Lord called us to a different focus. Our life under the sun, and above it, boils down to this:
“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’” – Matthew 22:37-40
What is of first importance is our walk before our Lord. Do we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? Our obedience, or lack of it, demonstrates our love. What is my sin against my Maker? No nuance. No exception. No excuse.
And then, after addressing our sin, we look at our walk among our neighbors. Who are our neighbors? Arbitrary victims the media posts pictures of? Or is our commitment to our neighbor demonstrated in how we treat our spouse, and our kids, and our fellow church members? Is our love for neighbor shown in how we interact with our co-workers, and the people we live in community with? “Who is my neighbor?” The lawyer asked the Lord.
Some of us have family and friends – even former literal neighbors – who are in the middle of the current events in Ukraine. We speak with them, and where we can, we help them. That is not an arbitrary victim. These are people we know. And, we have family, friends, and neighbors where we currently live, whom we are called to love.
We deal with our own sin before our Maker, and then walk in love, as we interact with the faces of those whom we have relationships with – the people whom God put into our lives for us to love.
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