Have you ever
heard someone talk about how they loved to people watch? Well I am one of those people also. I love to sit and watch people. Sometimes it can be very entertaining to say
the least. I have seen people in a
variety of settings ranging from malls to amusement parks and sporting events
to concerts. There have also been the
opportunities to watch people in a variety of settings at worship events and
churches. There are times when you see
some of the most unusual things take place.
Probably the funniest is when people are not paying attention to where
they are going and stumble. Of course,
the first reaction of the individual which stumbled is to regroup and look to
see if anyone was watching. If they find
that someone was watching then there is a tendency to begin to think how I can
look as if that didn’t happen or I meant to do that!
I remember when
I was a student at Samford many years ago we were sitting in the school’s
cafeteria. On the far side of the room
was a side door which was clearly labeled “do not exit, alarm will sound.” As we sat there eating and talking someone
noticed one of the freshmen girls heading to the aforementioned door. All attention was on this young lady as she
approached the door and pushed the bar to exit. As you can imagine the alarm sounded and the
young lady was quite embarrassed by her actions. While there were some who were sympathetic to
this young lady’s mistake many others in the room began to applaud and
laugh. Unfortunately for the young lady
she chose to return the way she came rather than go ahead and exit the
door.
There are times
when others around us do things which are humorous and then there are times
when people are annoying. Recently, I
asked for a response on one of the social media outlets for answers to what is
annoying about other people. There were
responses such as: selfishness, fake
people, overpowering people who demand their way is always right, judgmental
people (especially within the church), rudeness, adults with lack of respect
for one another, hypocrites, inconsistency, arrogance, slackers, and those who
complain about situations but won’t do anything to help rectify the
situation.
But the one
which caught my attention the most is those with a sense of entitlement. While this attitude can take on a variety of
meanings the one which most would correlate here is that of expecting that one
deserves something. I often hear people
complain that the world is filled with individuals who have the mindset that
they are owed something by the government, other people, the church, and even
God. At what point do we come to where
we are owed something by someone else?
Is there a standard by which we can determine such a status of
entitlement? All valid questions, but
the scripture does not teach such a demeanor.
In fact, Jesus taught us to care for the needs of others ahead of our
own. Paul encouraged us to bear the
burdens of one another. Should we insist
on entitlement when the example of Jesus was to lay down His life for others?
In closing let
me bring up one other thought. When we
see these attitudes and actions in others which irritate us do we stop to
wonder what we might do which robs the joy of someone else? It is easy to see the faults of others, but
do we stop to contemplate that we too might have a fault? Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount by
saying, “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye; but don’t notice
the log in your own eye?” He continued by saying we would be wise to remove the
log from our own eye in order to help our brothers with anything which might be
in their own. Let’s see what could be
detrimental for the kingdom of God in our lives and remove it so as not to
cause any hindrance for others coming to Christ!
Seeking His Way,
Pastor Ric
