Wanderman in the Wilderness

God's word applied in the world.

Cheap Shots or Total Breakdown?

cheap shot footballYou may have seen the video of two high school football players who took a couple of cheap shots in a game last week. Of course, cheap shots in a football game are nothing new. But these were different…they were on a referee!

The last thing I want to do is to take another cheap shot. The referee is considering pressing charges, and the courts will decide guilt. But watching that video, I can’t help but feel like that field is a microcosm of our country.

After all, recent headlines tell of police officers being ambushed in Las Vegas, Texas, and Florida, the Deputy General for Governor Cuomo being shot in Brooklyn, and any number of other needless “cheap shots” having taken place. Meanwhile, most of us hardly noticed. Of course, violence is nothing new. But it appears that there is a growing breakdown in society based on a lack of respect for authority.

In the Bible, the Hebrews writer teaches us that discipline is never joyful at the time, but that it works for our good. Today, many people have no respect for those who administer our discipline. But it wasn’t always the case.

Consider Hebrews 12:9, “Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?” Did you catch that? The Hebrews writer assumes respect for those who discipline! How far we have come!

Is that progress? Are we better off for rejecting God’s Word and determining our own morality?

We all lose when football players level a referee for a call they don’t like, when angry citizens execute police officers, and when general mayhem causes shootings and stabbings on a daily occurrence. And teaching God’s Word is the only solution.

God loves us, and He wants the best for us. But judgment is in store if we don’t start accepting His correction (Hebrews 10:27). Let’s lead by example. As we are trained by His correction, perhaps others will see why discipline “yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11).

#cheapshot, #discipline

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