The Argument

We often hear the old saw: "There are two sides to every argument." I think the reason this proverb exists is that, for all our accumulated wisdom, truth is often hard to come by or to clearly discern.

This past week we all heard the horrifying news of yet another seemingly mindless shooting incident that rocked a church in South Carolina--a congregation peacefully gathered to offer up prayers and praises to God. The perpetrator of this murderous outrage snuffed out the lives of nine men and women, ostensibly because of their skin color. He is a young man in his twenties, obviously racist, whose father had given him a gun for his birthday.

Today, on the other hand, I have the privilege of delivering a brief address at another young man's graduation ceremony. This one is the oldest of eight children, home-schooled his entire life, who now plans to attend a Christian college in Florida. As far as I know, he is a loving, obedient son, a loyal and exemplary brother, a sharp, insightful student, and an honest, hard worker.

I asked my daughter on the phone yesterday what she thought I should say to this eager young graduate...what encouragement she would have appreciated at his age when she anticipated the beginning of "life on one's own" in an uncertain world. After marveling that this youngster she and I had known for so long had so suddenly arrived at this juncture in his life, she suggested that I counsel him to take time to get to know people. Resist the urge to isolate himself and bury himself in his studies, shutting out the world at large. Good advice, I thought, and told her so.

There often appears to be a two-sided argument when it comes to people. There always seems to develop among groups large and small a definite "pecking order," to use the old barnyard metaphor. Often, we are tempted to fall into this pattern of evaluating and categorizing the other homo sapiens we know personally, encounter casually, or view from a distance. Some rise to the top of the heap, others sink to the bottom, based on talent, appearance, economics, intelligence, physical prowess, religion, philosophy, upbringing, personal hygiene...the list of value factors goes on.

But the argument in its basic form is one of worthiness, it seems to me. That young man in South Carolina had come to the shocking conclusion that some of the people around him weren't worthy enough to go on living. Whatever hateful, fanatical, twisted thoughts or propaganda had led him to that conclusion are not really the issue. The type of weapon he used or its availability doesn't really matter much either. What truly matters is that the worthiness of one human life ought never to be an argument with two sides.

People die every day all over the world. People have been dying for thousands of years ever since Adam and Eve. Some have given back the life-gift God gave them in a willing, noble fashion, many even choosing to sacrifice it for the lives of others. Many...too many...have had that gift stripped or ripped from them by the two-sided argument of someone who counted them unworthy.

The young man graduating today has been taught faithfully by a loving mom and dad over the last eighteen years, taught that a gracious God has given life as a free gift--the most precious gift of all. He counts every person alive to be worthy of this gift, no matter where, what, who, and how they are.

And God expects every person alive to cherish and protect this gift--for oneself, and for all others.