Tip of My Iceberg

I was fascinated by this nursery rhyme as a kid. Why would an egg be on a wall in the first place? And if he was careless about where he sat, why would anyone want to put him back together? I’ve dropped eggs before. They become unusable when broken on the ground.

Humpty made poor choices. Which affected a lot of people. Horses and men couldn’t reconstruct him.

The world community felt like this last Friday as Paris was rocked with attacks that killed and injured scores of people. Terrorist groups are taking credit for it.

I won’t debate the philosophy behind this. Or get into an argument with folks who want to support or demonize specific religious beliefs. I’ve read enough reports and comments on the happenings to make me realize that many people are missing the point.

Was what happened horrible? Absolutely. France hasn’t experienced this kind of atrocity since World War II. People became involved under no choice of their own. They happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Was it unjust and unfair? No question.

So why is the American media so focused on this? It wasn’t on American soil. We’ve not made as huge a deal about the killings in Beirut, Lebanon or the ongoing problems between the Israelis and the Palestinians in the West Bank. People there are just as dead, killed in horrific ways.

Some of this has to do with the reality that we expect bad things to happen in the Middle East. It’s not uncommon for us to hear of people getting killed, suicide bombers blowing themselves up in public places, war happening.

But France? That’s Western Europe. A little close to home.

The problem isn’t that people are dying because of philosophical differences or particular religious beliefs.

Those are symptoms.

The real problem is that we all have that tendency to be evil to others. To hurt back when we’ve been hurt. To be offended when people don’t agree with us or question our lifestyle or reputation.

The world is broken. And has been since the fall of man. We’ve chosen our own way apart from God. With that came the selfishness and self-centeredness that motivates us to do what we choose.

Not caring how those choices might have negative effects on others.

We all do this.

As a follower of Jesus, I’m responsible for reflecting the God I trust and believe in. Many can point fingers at me and call me a hypocrite because I don’t do it well.

I’m not saying I always do it right because I follow Jesus. I’m not consistent. I fall to anger and selfishness as much as anyone.

Jesus is the only One who ever came to redeem man from the pitiful place of our brokenness that we are in. Forgiveness and grace we don’t deserve. But a price He willingly paid. In love.

Which means if I follow Him, I need to be willing to forgive and love as well. Even those I disagree with or want to condemn.

Nobody can put Humpty back together again. Not laws. Governments. Philosophies.

Only Jesus.

We need to think about that as we observe from our own walls.