Have you noticed that these days everyone's a victim.
You can be a victim of discrimination because you’re too old, too young,
too female, too ugly, too fat, too quiet, too Christian - just think of
an adjective and put ‘too’ in front of it: you’ll soon get the idea. Everywhere
you turn there is disadvantage. Deprivation is another problem; too little
education, too little food, too little opportunity, too little love, too
little glam rock music, too much Arsenal Soccer Club. Some people suffer
the indignity and trauma of verbal or physical violence, and others fall
prey to the sort of health problems that my insurers call ‘chronic conditions’
- apparently, we make them victims by costing them too much.
In the fine tradition of St. Paul, for a balanced
viewpoint, after the negative must come the positive point. And of course,
the good news is that if you're a victim then you're due compensation.
Well, it must be someone's fault mustn’t it? Stands to reason. It’s only
fair! Like the Americans we have become a society obsessed with litigation
for everything that upsets our little world. There’s always some poor chump
who can take the blame for life’s mishaps. Appeasing our sense of greed
is considered the right way to resolve such matters in our modern world.
It doesn’t make for an attractive society though. How many times have you
wished that someone would just say sorry for something they’ve done which
has upset you? Well, you can go on wishing because ‘sorry!’ indicates an
acceptance of guilt, and it can lead to an appearance in court.
This victim-thus-compensation attitude arises largely
from the increasingly Godless nature of our society. Yes, the spectre of
secularism (who it’s rumoured is an apprentice of the Grim Reaper) can
be seen grinning and rubbing his bony hands with glee at the turn of events
again. Historically, the church has taught that everything will be put
to rights in the next life, that there will be reward then, so the people
of a more Godly age were given to suffer their worldly problems with stoicism.
They would talk about things being an ‘act of God’ and accept them as part
of his grace. Life was viewed with a grander perspective and a greater
reliance on God. Faith and hope were words imbued with meaning.
“It is mine to avenge”, God says in Deuteronomy,
but in the absence of faith people seek their justice now. They think the
O.J. Simpsons of the world have really got off scot free. Imagine the hardworking
surgeon, genuinely committed to doing everything he can for his patients,
who makes a mistake one day because he’s over-tired from all his work.
It might not even be a mistake but an act of compassion which the circumstances
turn sour. The patient, unhappy that the operation has not been a success,
despite having been appraised of the risks and having signed a disclaimer,
sues the doctor.
There are no winners in such a situation. The result
is at least two ruined lives as the legal process takes its toll: strain
and stress, financial impoverishment for the losers and their families,
the postponement of allowing time to heal. The legal and journalistic professions
are the only ones to thrive in this environment. And the biggest casualty
of all is the loss of human forgiveness and compassion, and a turning away
from God.
I wonder sometimes whether we believers really
try to set a better example or whether we take our cue from the world when
calamity strikes. Do we leave space for God to avenge us or are we quick
to join the fight? A few years ago an undergraduate murdered a female student
and tried to cover it up, but of course he was found out and was put on
trial. When the young man was convicted the mother of the murdered girl
shocked the court and the watching journalists by walking across to the
murderer's mother and comforting her for both had lost a child. This lady
from Blackpool was a Christian.
How hard that action must have been, and yet
it betrayed a deep understanding of that line from the Lord’s prayer, ‘Forgive
us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.’ She was putting
into effect the compassion and forgiveness of God, and admitting the grace
of God to rule the circumstance of her life. This was altogether a remarkable
example and encouragement to us all.
We all need a bit more stony-faced grit as
we walk through the years God has given us. We need to turn the negatives
into positives and work through them to deepen our relationship with the
Lord and our witness to the world. Remember, he has allowed these things,
and they are to the good of those he loves (James 1:1-12). I’m not suggesting
for one moment that we should keep quiet in the face of trial and adversity.
The Lord has given us prayer and each other to help ease the pain of difficult
situations and we might do better to share our burdens. It’s just that
our perspective and resulting actions and attitudes should be tempered
always by the grace of God. So, not so much victim, as blessed by God.