Ever wonder who ‘they’ are?
I’m sure you’ve heard the old refrain, “You know what ‘they’ always say . . .” which of course is followed by some snappy little phrase ‘they’ supposedly always say. The more I hear about ‘they’, the less interested I am in the snappy little phrases, and the more interested I am in precisely who ‘they’ really are.
The same principle holds when we hear from ‘The White House’. Everyone knows that the Executive Mansion itself didn’t say anything, so who exactly in ‘The White House’ is making all of these pronouncements? If it’s the POTUS, then why not come right out and say so, because if it’s the butler, then who cares? (I suppose this way they can always say ‘The butler did it.’)
Then of course there’s ‘Congress’. A recent Gallup poll (bit.ly/SmY7xw) states that “Americans’ approval of Congress is 13% in April, inching down from 15% in March”, yet according to Charlie Mahtesian, writing for Politico (politi.co/U5ydA0), the 2012 reelection rate for Congress was 90%! How is this possible if the approval rate of Congress is hovering at near historic lows? Apparently, as Mr. Mahtesian says, “Voters hate Congress, but like their own member.”
When any one of us can either blame or take the word of the proverbial ‘they’ for what we believe is right or wrong at any given moment, or when an individual Congressperson can blame an entire institution for not leading and doing, or on the other hand for leading and doing but doing it badly, or the POTUS can blame an inanimate object for things he may or may not have said or believe, then it seems to me that personal responsibility has gone right out the window.
But none of this is new.
Some time or other between 55 and 56 . . . and no, I don’t mean between 1955 and 1956, but I really mean between 0055 and 0056 . . . the Apostle Paul got a letter, or some form of communique from the Board of Trustees of the First Church of Corinth, accusing him of deceiving them about his travel plans, of all things. (See 2 Corinthians 1:13-19 for some context. The New Living Translation is the easiest to follow this particular story line in my opinion.) These people must have been lied-to so often by the Corinthian political, business, and religious communities that they assumed Paul must be just like them, or at the very least Corinthian-lite. But the old evangelist makes it crystal clear that he leaves “nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand.” (verse 13) It’s like they were reading and re-reading his letter, looking for what he really meant instead of what was plainly written, kind of like what we do when ‘They’ or ‘The White House’ or ‘The Congress’ runs all around the questions and never can quite say what ‘they’ really mean, leaving the rest of us scratching our heads, wondering.
But Paul wasn’t your typical religious whacko, spouting scary stories just to get people to kow-tow to his will, only to personally live differently than his congregations. He meant what he said, and he said what he meant, and he lived it every day . . . and so should we! (When you’re finished reading this article, read the entire first chapter of 2 Corinthians and you’ll have a better picture of this guy’s intentions.)
It’s the easiest thing in the world to blame our spouse, or our boss, or our parents, or a host of other ‘theys’ for our problems, but none of that will change our circumstances. We’ve become a society of victims, looking for someone, anyone but ourselves, to bear the burden of whatever current dilemma we face. “For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between ‘Yes’ and ‘No’”, rather “he always does what he says.” (verse 19).
Again, so should we, and then take personal responsibility for the results.
