“The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” Psalm 14:2–3 (ESV)
We want safety. We want certainty and guarantees. We want leaders, organizations and institutions to be solid, trustworthy and true. Lately, we seem to be finding none. There isn’t a leader, organization or institution who doesn’t currently suffer under some sort of scrutiny. From police departments to the federal supreme court, from social justice movements to local non-profits; all are being savagely examined. We have this feeling of betrayal as we hold these entities in good faith yet find them lacking.
Don’t think so? I disagree based on what I see. There’s one sure sign that indicates we are in an age where we collectively feel as if none can be trusted. Our uncertainty and upheaval, our penchant for moral dissection, our suspicion of all things is signaled by an ever-increasing division among the public.
Division is the taking of sides. One group stands in opposition to another, believing in their organizations, leaders and information hubs. Each side stands in scrutiny of the other, therefore all are under scrutiny. One of the worst things about COVID-19, our current cultural unrest and an election year is the polarity we are all feeling. Division is caused by disagreement. Disagreement is caused by the clash of ideas. No one’s exactly sure what information is trustworthy, so no ideas can really be trusted. Add in that we seem to have lost the ability to civilly mitigate our disagreements. Viola! A divided, skeptical and cynical public.
Division in times like these is a symptom and escalator of our problems and not any kind of solution. It makes no sense to oppose racial tension and division by using opposition and division. You can’t fight a virus if we can’t collectively decide what it is and how best to stop it based on solid information. The divisions increase and the situation becomes worse. Then our perspectives lead us to unfairly judge and separate from one another even in our small rural corner of Illinois.
I think the problem is the premise. It’s in the first line of this post. We all want safety, certainty and guarantees when nothing is really safe, nothing is certain and there are no guarantees. Yet, we demand these things from our societal leaders and entities.
No one can withstand the absolute demands of a fearful public. No organization or person can withstand absolute scrutiny. If we look closely enough we will see that all are fractured and corrupt. All have flaws. Broken leadership, institutions and organizations are the rule, not the exception as they are comprised of broken human members.
Maybe we should stop looking to leaders, institutions and organizations for certainty. Maybe we should accept that the world has never been a safe place. Life is worth all the uncertainty associated with it, but do you need guarantees to walk out of your front door? Most do not. I don’t. Maybe we should engage the adventure and risk. Safety, certainty and guarantees are only found by faith. In what should we put our faith when all other things are shaken?
We might not agree on these things. Through faith in Christ I (and many others) have decided to no longer stand on the guarantees, certainty or safety this world offers. Staking my claim on anything else tends to separate me from you. At this time I’m sensing that it’s supremely important that we work, in good faith, to close any division that might be between us.