I remember, as a child in school, learning about the big-name human atrocities throughout history. Typically dumbed down and severely whitewashed versions of things like the transatlantic slave trade, the holocaust etc. When learning and conversing about these evils of human history, I often heard, and even have said myself, statements along the lines of:
“If I was alive for [insert historical evil], I would’ve never stood for it.”
“I would’ve resisted this evil.”
“I would’ve done everything I could to fight back against [insert historical evil].”
What’s so incredibly ironic about such a statement, is that daily each of us are faced with opportunities, large and small, to resist evil. From atrocities more domestic such as someone losing a loved one and having no one left to love and be loved by. To large scale international evils, such as war.
But do we resist? Do we fight back? Do we do everything we can to stop the atrocity? If we’re honest with ourselves, nine times out of ten… our answer is no. We don’t want to step out of our comfort zone to love someone who is seemingly unloved. We don’t want to add another thing to our seemingly never-ending to do lists. We read headlines filled with death and pain, shake our heads and keep scrolling in search of the next thing to grab our attention.
Now I’m no dummy, I know sometimes we’ve reposted these things to our social feeds to “raise awareness”. I know we’ve commented the “praying hands” emoji in the comment section of our news outlet of choice. And let’s not forget that extra quarter we toss in the Salvation Army bucket come wintertime.
I hope you sense my sarcasm.
If this was what it took to resist evil into extinction, there would be peace and equality on every corner of the earth.
Hopefully it’s obvious to you that this is not the case. But we have been trained to believe that it is, especially in America. As kids, we received a pat on our backs for sharing our animal crackers during snack time. Maybe you even got yourself some gold stars on the “Student of the Month” chart.
Now I’m in no way insinuating that we should stop rewarding children for their good deeds. But I am instead approaching this similar to the way a good personal trainer would approach their client:
“I’m glad you lost 5 pounds. I’m proud of you. Now let’s get you 10 more pounds down!”
Imagine if your trainer told you that the work was completed after you only lost 5 pounds?! I can almost guarantee that you wouldn’t be satisfied.
Similarly, we should not be satisfied seeing so many grown adults with the generosity level of a kindergartner.
Instead of just teaching children that their small acts of generosity are appreciated, why can’t we also show them that they can AND MUST strive to do even more next time!
Imagine if we taught the next generation that the best investment they could make in their life had nothing to do with their own personal gain. Imagine if success meant that “Everybody Wins” instead of “I Win”.
If we stunt the maturing of our generosity, we will see an increase in atrocity.
Unfortunately, you can’t build a lifestyle of generosity overnight. Similar to my previous physical fitness analogy, this is a constant work. A mental, emotional, spiritual and yes even physical work.
In places like America, this lifestyle is counterculture. We teach kids how to solve mathematical equations more than how to love their neighbors. Our televisions are flooded with military recruitment marketing, instead of resources on building sustainable peace in our world.
Our priority must become one another. Without this we will run the risk of depleting our own humanity to the point that the only person we genuinely care for, is the one staring back at us in the mirror.
My prayer is that the Lord increases our generosity and compassion. I believe this to be the main pathway towards overcoming the evils of our world. I pray that we learn to stop being a people that need something to give something. This is Christ likeness. I have much hope for us.
Love.
