This morning as I was riding, I was thinking about the video of the kids bullying the 68 year old bus monitor. I thought about how she just sat there and took it and didn’t stand up for herself or stop the bus. I thought about the fact that there were thirty other kids on board, none of whom said or did anything in her defense. I thought about the reality that this happens every day all over the United States. I thought about the many people who have donated to her… At this writing almost a half million dollars! Three of the boys involved issued apologies, and one of the moms wrote how deeply she was embarrassed and upset by the hurt her son caused and how sorry she was.
The whole issue is just an indicator of where we are as a nation. Sin is so rampant across the world, and it is becoming more and more apparent that as a nation we are falling further and further away from the two greatest commandments… love God and love each other. The more we move to a hedonistic worldview, where we operate in selfishness, self preservation, self centeredness, and self pleasure, the less we will care about how our words and actions affect others. You would think that all the attention that bullying has received in recent years would make us more aware of the what is going on in schools, in the workplace, in homes, but for a nation who is swiftly running away from the principles of the Bible and the commandments of a holy God, it is a certainty leading to destruction.
I thought as I watched this video, with a sick and heavy heart, that this was a taste of what Jesus endured. Mockery, profanity, personal attacks by the very people he had come to save from certain death. He stood there and took it. They unleashed all the ugliness of their black hearts upon Him and slimed Him with their words of hatred and He stood there, knowing everything about them, with love for them, and remained silent. He did this, why? Of all people who have ever lived on earth, this God-man could have, in an instant, brought those sewer-spewing mouths to an instant halt, yet He chose to endure it in silence. And then eventually, when things moved beyond words and into physical beatings and ultimately crucifixion, He died. For each of us. How humbling, how marvelous of a privilege that He suffered bullying and the horror of a violent death so that each of us would have the opportunity to live if we accepted His gift.
I pray that this situation will open our eyes to the reality of what is going on in our schools. It’s not isolated. Everyone is after their moments of fame and they will use any way they can to get it. We need to start praying against the spirits of mockery, pride, selfishness, and disrespect that are running rampant across the nation. I believe that soon a day is coming when the Lord will no longer tolerate it.
Galatians 6:7-9 – “Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.”
I had no idea this happened. It is very sad and I agree with your parallel. All I have to do is think just a little bit about how Jesus endured on the cross and it empowers me to humble myself and walk in meekness. Thank you Jesus!
I agree whole-heartedly. I pray the Lord does open our eyes to what happens in public schools.
And in my opinion, it is well beyond time for Christian parents to form an exit strategy from public schools and remove their children. I believe its is far greater for the family that parents would rescue their children before they become haters of God and lovers of pleasure. Without intervention there is a great potential for our children to become the very people 2 Timothy 3:2-5 warns about.