You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong. (Exodus 23:2)
Read: Exodus 21:22-23:13, Matthew 24:1-28, Psalm 29:1-11, Proverbs 7:6-23
Relate: “When I was a kid…” Anytime I used to hear that I would cringe. It doesn’t matter what that old fogie is going to talk about, I don’t want to hear it. These days I have started to catch myself saying it every now and then. What happened? When did I get old? Oh well, there is nothing for it but to plow forward. So all you teenagers who might be reading this, I do apologize but, “When I was a kid…”
Image was everything. Maybe it is not so now but when I was in high school, there was a hierarchy involved in what you could call “locker room politics”. In this hierarchy I was somewhere just below the middle. I was respected by others, but I was not really admired. I was athletic but not incredibly muscular. I was a leader in other areas, but it didn’t carry over into the locker room dynamic. There was another Christian who stood fairly high up in that hierarchy since he was a linebacker on the football team. There was also that poor guy on the bottom. Somebody has to be there and this kid found himself being constantly harassed by the locker room “king”. I wanted to help… but I didn’t. Actually, I was more focused on praying that the other Christian in our gym class would stand up. He didn’t. He looked uncomfortable doing it, but he was laughing right along with everybody else… so was I.
React: Did you ever have an unpopular boss or coworker? Was there ever that someone who just doesn’t understand the break room dynamics. Some people just don’t have the social wherewithal to know how to be normal and they end up becoming the brunt of everyone else’s jokes. When you meet such people do you stand up to them or just go along with everybody else? This scripture is sitting right in the middle of two sections titled “Social Responsibility” and “A Call for Justice”. Going along with the crowd is a form of social injustice. On a personal level and as a society this is true. When I do not stand up to that bully, I am just as guilty of being a bully as he is. When we do not reach out to care for the oppressed we are just as guilty as the groups like ISIS doing the oppression.
I know, calling out that rude coworker just doesn’t seem like much when compared to the injustice of the human slave trade and my silence at work will not end up getting someone thrown into a concentration camp. But the mentality that allows those who are doing such grand scale injustices to get away with it is also the mentality that allows the victim to snap and become the next news flash shooting. These things don’t just happen in schools or workplaces, it can even happen in a nursing home. Peer pressure, locker room politics, is something each of us have to stand against everywhere, every day.
Respond:
Dear God,
Give me your eyes so I can see the hurt and the need of those around me. Give me Your courage to stand against injustice both big and small. I am Your representative. Help me to extend Your courage into the break rooms and the locker rooms of my life.
Amen
THE RIVER WALK 
Thanks for sharing this beautiful video. Beautiful inspiring music.
Reblogged this and commented:
It’s me , it’s me O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Give me your discernment that I be your channel of blessing. Thank you Lord. Amen
Hi BJ, in my youth I did stand up for another guy in high school that was being bullied. I ended up getting punched for it (just skimmed) but what was really surprising was how all the kids crowded around after school to see me get punched out. The herd instinct is a terrible thing. And there was the time that I blew it (noteworthy) in Cyprus. Living with a bunch of Canadian soldiers and one young British soldier. I was witnessing to all of them by doing whatever I could for them (word and deed) and the Canadian soldiers bugged the British soldier just because he was British. The Brit stated with us because of me. He said he had never met anyone like me before so he stayed. He stayed and we talked about God whenever we could. One day I explained to him that one reason they bugged him was because of the way he spoke. I included myself in the statement. He was gone the next day. Insensitivity on my part. Never forgot that, all because of a few words. That is one of my real regrets. Blessings.
Awesome word. Thanks
🙂
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Eons ago…when I was a kid 🙂
same thing but in the smoking area not the locker room. I didn’t laugh, I just didn’t say anything.
It bothers me still, because the boy died…however, I do speak up because of him.
This is a poem I wrote about him. Delete if not appropriate for your page to have a link. But I did want to share my experience with you.
Brilliant! So true…it is always right to stand up for someone. That one act of kindness may save them from “snapping.”
I have always been one of those who would stand up for the underdog; sometimes is cost me in confrontation and sometimes it was rewarded in victory. I have never regretted standing up for the weak or fearful but I have paid the cost. Just make sure you are ready too. Oh yeah, and don’t be surprised when the underdog stands with the bully. Sad, but it happens. I think it must be something like Stockholm syndrome. (?) The Lord bless your day! Steve
On Sat, Feb 4, 2017 at 11:18 PM, THE RIVER WALK wrote:
> Beejai posted: ” You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong. (Exodus > 23:2) Read: Exodus 21:22-23:13, Matthew 24:1-28, Psalm 29:1-11, Proverbs > 7:6-23 Relate: “When I was a kid…” Anytime I used to hear that I would > cringe. It doesn’t matter what that old fogie i” >
When I was a kid…I was waiting for my ballet class to start and the other girls were making fun of the really shy girl in our class. I didn’t join in with them but I didn’t say anything either. They ended up pushing her outside and closing the door on her, When they went into the class I stayed behind and let her back in. That still bothers me. I do my best now to stand up for those being bullied showing the love of Christ. Thanks for sharing.