Playing God
Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
John 8:32 I watched a TV show tonight where one poor tortured soul committed heinous, horrible crimes because he believed that his own life was over. He erroneously believed that he had nothing to live for. He believed it because a person who had once been everything to him kept a very important piece of information from him. The information withheld from him was truly life changing but because he didn’t have it he was empty and lost enough to torture and kill several other people. The story was fiction but it gave me great pause.
How often do we choose not to tell someone something for their own good? How often do we withhold information out of spite? When we do things like that we play God, which is extremely dangerous. That decision has a direct effect on how the other person behaves. When the truth comes out the consequences can be dire or, as in the TV show the consequences could be avoided by telling the truth.
When I choose what another person should or should not know I choose to play God. The problem there is that all I see is the tiny area around me. I do not see what forest fire can be set by withholding information.
My daughter has two children. Let’s say she tells me that she has hired a babysitter and I know that person is an alcoholic who can get quite mean. I say nothing because my daughter has already told me that I don’t trust her judgment and think she is a bad parent. In order to keep her good opinion I say nothing. She keeps the sitter who then puts my grandchildren in her vehicle while she is drunk and causes an accident that severely injures our babies or God forbid worse. How does my daughter feel when I tell her I knew all along about the sitter? How do I feel watching my angels suffer because I wanted their mother’s good opinion?
In the TV show the information withheld would have made the man’s life bearable but since it was withheld, he believed he had nothing to live for and chose to take the lives of many other people. Dramatic? Perhaps but possible.
Each word in the Bible is there for a reason. Sometimes the truth hurts. Sometimes it does cause another person to turn away from us or resent us. Still the words from John are our best directive, know the truth, tell the truth and be free.
John 8:32 I watched a TV show tonight where one poor tortured soul committed heinous, horrible crimes because he believed that his own life was over. He erroneously believed that he had nothing to live for. He believed it because a person who had once been everything to him kept a very important piece of information from him. The information withheld from him was truly life changing but because he didn’t have it he was empty and lost enough to torture and kill several other people. The story was fiction but it gave me great pause.
How often do we choose not to tell someone something for their own good? How often do we withhold information out of spite? When we do things like that we play God, which is extremely dangerous. That decision has a direct effect on how the other person behaves. When the truth comes out the consequences can be dire or, as in the TV show the consequences could be avoided by telling the truth.
When I choose what another person should or should not know I choose to play God. The problem there is that all I see is the tiny area around me. I do not see what forest fire can be set by withholding information.
My daughter has two children. Let’s say she tells me that she has hired a babysitter and I know that person is an alcoholic who can get quite mean. I say nothing because my daughter has already told me that I don’t trust her judgment and think she is a bad parent. In order to keep her good opinion I say nothing. She keeps the sitter who then puts my grandchildren in her vehicle while she is drunk and causes an accident that severely injures our babies or God forbid worse. How does my daughter feel when I tell her I knew all along about the sitter? How do I feel watching my angels suffer because I wanted their mother’s good opinion?
In the TV show the information withheld would have made the man’s life bearable but since it was withheld, he believed he had nothing to live for and chose to take the lives of many other people. Dramatic? Perhaps but possible.
Each word in the Bible is there for a reason. Sometimes the truth hurts. Sometimes it does cause another person to turn away from us or resent us. Still the words from John are our best directive, know the truth, tell the truth and be free.
Comments
Post a Comment