An eye for an eye, a tire for a side, a life for a life.

An eye for an eye.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right!!” How many times have you heard your parents relentlessly preach this line?! My favorite reply was “Yeah, but three rights make a U-Turn!” (I thought my wit was outstanding… but I never let on that I, in actual fact, got that line from Bullwinkle, the monotone moose!) No matter how many times my parents reminded me, it took me many years to understand fully what this meant. Sure I knew my “bad” actions in response to my sisters’ taunts didn’t make the situation right… but I thought that it made me feel just a little better in the end. Now that I am 22 and directing a youth program for inner-city kids, I hear myself echoing the same line that was spoken over me many years ago. My relentless plea seems to dissipate into thin air because no matter how many different ways I hide the same line, they just don’t seem to get it!

Why?

At times this can be frustrating, but if I couldn’t grasp the application when I was young and living in a culture fairly saturated in good morals, how can a child living amongst crime, violence, hurt, and pain grasp the same concept?


A tire for a side.

Tonight a man in a building on my street was stabbed. Police cars and ambulances blitzed the scene. The flashing lights beckoned the neighborhood to come and see the “parade”. It was 11pm and young children, less than 5 years old, were watching as the officials dealt with the situation. They heard from the grapevine of bystanders of how a man was stabbed because he had earlier slashed the tires of his enemy’s car.

An eye for an eye… a tire for a side.

There was a buzz in the air. Not one of franticness, but of fascination. It was a reality show being played before their very eyes. And they ate it all up.

So did the little boy who may forever believe that when someone wrongs you, you must take severe action to prove that you will stand up for yourself, for your family, and for your 4 door station wagon.


A life for a life.

“The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; but I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 (NIV)

The young boy who has the preconceived notion of “an eye or an eye” may one day end up in one of my youth programs. I will inevitably say to him “two wrongs don’t make a right”, but what his ears hear will be drowned out by the static of the world. The world is very real to these kids. It doesn’t short change them; it doesn’t hide who it is. So why do we candy-coat the gospel? Is it an attempt to sweeten their lips? To lure them in with shallow lessons?

“While we stand on our dignity, generations are going to Hell.” (Catherine Booth).

Let’s not compromise our passion for lost souls by being afraid to speak the truth. God’s Word is so powerful that it can cut to the heart (Acts 2:37). This world is real to these kids; we too need to be real.

Of course we need to sensitive to remember that there are times when a person cannot bear every gospel truth at once (John 16:12). However if we only ever feed our children the same gummy bear of truth; how will they ever stomach an everlasting gobstopper?

Let’s build up our young people with the truth of the Word of God so that they can be beacons of light to this world (Matthew 5:14). Beacons that draw a crowd not to simply spy into the situation at hand, but beacons that beckon the world to arms! To fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12) of faith for our God!

To stand up when others would rather sit idly by.

To stand out when others would rather blend in.

And to stand firm on the promises of God when everyone else turns away.

This is our mission; our life; our love.