So What?

Warning! Adult themes follow.

Recent developments on our social dynamic have produced a rabid fascination with sexual improprieties. These revelations about the past dealings from a number of people begs a serious response apparently from all sides. Being a grace guy, I believe that I’m only qualified to speak from that vantage point, which regrettably, will fall, for the most part, on deaf ears. Why say anything then?

This issue has deep-reaching tentacles which almost all agree springs from a lack of a moral imperative within our social system. The difficulty which arises in matters like many of these allegations present is the social mores of the times when these infractions allegedly occurred. Honestly, these issues are occurring in a generation which ushered in the sexual revolution, championed abortion, sex education and free condoms in schools, and a host of other issues which proponents of traditional moral values railed against claiming the demise of the nation would soon be at hand.

Laws do not create a moral climate, they simply delineate what is prohibited social behavior. The laws we have today may not have been around when many of these alleged infractions transpired, or the public awareness, which is rampant today, hadn’t started yet. I won’t begin to address the reasons why these types of things might even be suppressed.

In our culture morals have been relegated to the domain of religious institutions, gray-haired grandmothers and lonesome cowboys. The standards of how one should and needs to act in life situations are therefore in the hands of people no one truly cares to listen to. This makes everyone a fair target to any cultural message being pitched across a multitude of advertising and educational mediums. Today, the nature of being “right” comes down to what clothes you wear, what music you listen to, which candidates you elect, what causes you support and a host of other delineation which divide and conquer society.

Sex sells. No question about it, it is the tool of our age. Images flaunt cleavage, male and female alike, for every type of good or service available. Sales for a particular product down? Change its color to red, add a young blonde with voluptuous lips and wind-blown garments and watch revenues shoot through the roof. Sexist. You’re damn right, on both of the aisles. We’ve allowed it, fostered it and promoted it. Now the cost is beginning to be “exposed” like the ounce of flesh we flippantly drooled over.

All of this, and a whole lot more, begs the question no one wants to hear from a grace guy. So what? Someone got caught copping a feel. So what? Someone made advances, multiple times, to multiple people of the opposite, or same gender. So what? Someone refused advancement until personal gratification was consummated. So what?

This is the one item people of all sorts hate about the nature of grace. It’s the ugly under-belly of the grace message which no one in their right mind wants to proclaim: IT applies across the board for all people, in all circumstances, or it doesn’t apply at all. “So what?” merely exposes our hidden agenda to be self-righteous. Retribution. My pound of flesh. Punishment. Eye for an eye. Violence.

Understand me correctly here. I am not supporting the perpetrators of these acts. If people were hurt physically and/or emotionally, redress needs to be made. I am not siding with the victims in propelling a mob-inducing witch hunt either. Victims have lived in shame far too long in these matters, but while the scales of justice are blind, they are never balanced in this blindness either. Recompense is never enough, ever. Someone, hell everyone, is hurt, battered and bleeding from these issues. Nothing changes. So what?

Each of us, victim and perpetrators alike, haven’t fallen from grace; we all fail for grace. We don’t deserve it, never will. This is why it is a gift to us. It is the only thing that can change people, transform us into better example of who we’ve always been. Grace demands from us the recognition that because of who we are and what we’ve accomplished under the standard of our false identity, we are forgiven. Laws will not do this; rehab and therapy programs will not work either. They all function from the premise of retribution, not transformation leading to restitution.

Do things need to change? In case you haven’t noticed, change is going on right now all around us. Dominate hierarchies are being forced to examine their founding principles in the arena of public spectacle. Quick reprisal is not a principle, but we’re already seeing it be employed to maintain the status quo, if not market share in various industries. Prepare for backlash and conflict to intensify as public announcements convict more people rather than proper judicial channels.

A call for civility and adherence to the golden rule has begun to rise up. It will increase as a means to justify the ends and act as a governor to limit discourse where it is needed the most. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Recognize that both sides believe God will bless them in the death of their enemy. Golden rule always works; eye for an eye; screw me, I’ll screw you; embarrass me…you know the drill. Gamesmanship with the golden rule is working its magic right now.

When I say, “So what?” to these matters, I am not being flippant. It is a very serious response. It requires you to evaluate your present situation, your angst, your disgust, your standard of right/wrong and compare it to a gift that was given to you by an innocent man convicted to die from the torturous death assigned to godless men; a human who had his skin mercilessly whipped from his body; his face pummeled beyond recognition by 100 of the strongest men of the region; his naked body ruthlessly impaled to rough-hewn timbers crafted for a different criminal who the people pardoned hours before; raised into the sky for all the world to see what happens to anyone who attempts to defy the laws of the kingdom; mocked and jeered, spat upon and cursed for 6 horrific hours by those who just days before had been cheering enthusiastically at his arrival. Look diligently at this panorama of man’s evil inclination and self-righteous indignation and catch the gift of grace to all humanity coming from parched lips gasping, “Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do.”

So what?

We are sorely mistaken to think we can do better in our suffering if we can’t even do this act of forgiveness to the least of His sheep. We can be surprised, shocked and appalled to the point of being numb by all those who have been charged with committing these acts. So what? Didn’t they receive a gift they didn’t deserve just like you? It might be time to truly consider what it cost and whether its value still holds true. Retribution or forgiveness. Our choice or His. So what?