FROM THE PASTOR’S HEART
OP / ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
This reflection is written because it is apparent to me that most people have continued not only to accept that we are living in “a dog-eat-dog world” but are being destroyed by the “dog-eat-dog” lifestyle.
Just think of how, in word and action, people are murdering and cannibalizing one another. Just think of how the gun industry is working in the United States of America and worldwide. Think of how weapons of warfare are being traded between nations. Look at what is happening between Israel (IDF) and the Palestinians (Hamas). Just think of what is happening between Russia and Ukraine.
Does it not seem that all we are doing is living up to what the evolutionist scientist thinks of as the development of human beings with the retention of their bestial nature, where only the fittest can survive? The “top dogs” can destroy “the under-dogs” without shame.
I have cited examples that might seem far removed from our more intimate circles, like family and church community, but the truth is that what is taking place in the public circles is also present in the more intimate circles. I heard one man saying the other day that he and his wife had an enjoyable Thanksgiving because they shut their door and went into the basement of the house so that if any relative or friend passed by, they would not know that anyone was home.
I asked him why he did that, and he stated that when the family and friends came by, they only “talk trash” and backbite them. In another example, my wife and I decided this week to visit a friend who is depressed. Some of her family members who live in another state came for Thanksgiving and criticized her, claiming she was not taking good enough care of her 90+-year-old mother because she allowed her to keep active by doing little chores. The friend was so distraught because she knew that she was giving her mother the best of care and, therefore, said she felt like killing herself.
Yes, with weapons and words, we can often get ourselves involved in the “dog eat dog” culture, in which we bite and destroy one another, even in the most intimate circles. This observation should make us appreciate the words of the apostle Paul to his church(es) in Galatians, where he instructed, “ But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” (Galatians 5:15 ESV)
Commentators have noted that the word used for bite is the Greek δάκνω (daknō), which means “to bite or to sting.” As used in the passage in Galatians, it is a metaphor taken from dogs and wild beasts when they fight and tear up one another. Whether they were fighting and contending because of their ethnic difference, Jews and Gentiles, or some legalistic or libertine beliefs, we do not know for sure.
One thing is clear: The conflicts were real. And they were costly to the life of the community. People ended up taking sides. They were devouring and consuming each other to get what they wanted. I have heard it said in a crassly that their conflicts broke out into overt acts so severe that they were more becoming dogs than Christians. One commentator puts it this way:
“As wild beasts contend sometimes until both are slain. Thus, their contentions would destroy each other’s spirituality and happiness; their characters would be ruined, and the church would be overthrown. The readiest way to destroy the spirituality of a church and to annihilate the influence of religion is to excite a spirit of contention.”
As he had told all his other churches, the apostle Paul was telling the Galatians that there is an alternative way to the (back) biting and devouring. It is the way that comes in four words for me: the way of love, trust, peace and service. Instead of fighting, as they say, we need to learn that “more bees are caught by honey rather than vinegar” – we need to “spread love.”
We need to learn to trust each other more rather than spread so much fear as is being done through all the media that is out there. We need to speak peace and work for peace rather than turn everything into a conflict, as is being done through the news media these days. We need to learn how to serve one another.
If we can practice what is stated in the immediate above, our lives will be preserved, and we will have greater joy.
