So.. With all that's been happening lately, and everything being said in the media about "dirty cops", riots, racism, injustice, and everything else, I keep thinking about something my father said a long time ago that seems very fitting:
"The people who tell us that humans evolved from animals are the same exact people who turn around and are SHOCKED when humans act like animals."
And it's so true, isn't it? People spend their whole lives digging up research and facts to prove that we share common ancestry with monkeys, and that we are just slightly more evolved. These people stare into the face of humanity, boldly declare that we are evolved from animals, and then go completely shell-shocked when a riot brakes out over the death of one man, and the choice to not imprison another. We are SO floored by this concept and we demand answers.
Look around at humanity demanding justice! Everywhere there are people who are angry and confused. "How could this happen?" "This isn't right!" "Why is this person behaving in this manner?" We don't understand why people will act the way they do out of fear and anger.
We go about several different ways to try to find the answer. We watch trial videos, read interviews and reports, and pitch in our two cents to explain how we "Have the answer, and everybody is wrong except me, and you have to listen because I am very much informed now." after having spent the last half hour looking over jury notes and court case details with our morning cup of PG Tips English breakfast tea... Or whatever you drink. I'm not gonna judge you.
But I also believe that, as a human being, we need to know what is at the heart of the issue that is going on here.
The issue is not justice .. Well, I mean, it partly is.. But the actual problem starts way before justice.
The problem, ladies and gents, is where we come to the conclusion of why people do what they do. How did we get to this point in the first place? It raises questions like: "Why did the people in Ferguson riot and destroy their own city when Officer Wilson was not charged with the murder of Michael Brown?" or "Why do the members of Isis murder the lives of innocent children?"
We know "why" they do this - it's because they are _fill in the blank_
-Angry
-Sad
-Hurt
-Scared
We know in general why people react to situations. But what we need to ask is "why do people react in violence when they are _fill in the blank_?" What causes us to lash out at others when we are frustrated, or what causes us to act a fool and throw a TV through a shop window when we are angry?
Do we act this way because it is a biological nature? To act like animals... because we are animals? What a crass thought. Comparing ourselves to creatures with nothing but raw emotion? No creative thought process, or ability to control ourselves.
I don't know about you, but this option doesn't make sense at all to me. Because we do have that ability to judge whether or not something is a smart move. We watch documentaries on the Discovery channel and I can GUARANTEE that each of you has at one point said out loud "Don't go over there, antelope! You're gonna get killed by those lions!"
Coming home from work, driving down the street and a bunny runs out in front of your car, causing you to have to slam on the brakes in order to avoid murdering Peter Cottontail. What's the first thing you think to yourself? "Dumb rabbit, I almost killed you!"
Do you see what I am saying? Our minds are not set up like the minds of animals. We can process words, we can learn languages, we can recognize people from years after not seeing them! We can memorize Shakespeare, learn new instruments, go fishing, drive, snowboard, run on two legs.... Operate heavy machinery!
Guys.. We flippin figured out how to show emotion through written word by the use of punctuation!!
All I'm saying is to give credit where credit is due.. You are special. There is no way that I can see, how, even after "Millions of years" One species could evolve enough to do ALL of those things, when other species can't evolve to do even one.
So, coming back to what I was saying earlier about biological nature, it seems to me a foolish thing to blame "animal instinct" on something that we make a conscious decision to do.
But what if we look at it from a different perspective? What if we look, not at biological nature, but "human nature". We've heard different descriptions of what human nature is, we've all heard the song by MJ "When they say, why? why? tell em' that it's human nature" You know what I am talking about.
It's the way we act as untouched, left-to-ourselves human beings.
Genesis Chapter 1 gives us the clear understanding of how we came to be. Humans! Who were in perfect fellowship with God, our Creator. He made us intricately and lovingly. He gave us minds that were intelligent, arms and legs that were strong, hands and fingers that could move, tear, place, cup, tickle, snap, brush off, clap, touch.. He gave us beautiful , perfect minds and bodies, and He made us in His own flawless design. *sigh*.. I have to pause a second because whenever I go through that in my mind, just how painstakingly we were fashioned, I don't know how anyone could want to believe that we were an accident, and evolved from pond goop. The thought is irrational.
Moving forward in Genesis, we learn about how we came to have the "Human Nature" we do now. Adam an Eve, God's first created humans, chose to sin against a Holy God, and thusly, sealed the fate for the rest of mankind. Our state, in it's creation, was that of "passe non peccare/posse peccare" from the Latin, meaning it was possible for us to sin, and it was possible for us to not sin. God chose, in His sovereign wisdom, to give us volition in that area. We had the choice. And the first time that the option came up, that is mentioned in the Bible... What do we do? We mess it up. Causing mankind to fall into a state of "non passe non peccare" meaning that it is now impossible for us to not sin.
This makes the term Human Nature synonymous with the term Sin Nature. It is us deceiving ourselves into thinking that we can create our own justice, and our own way of carrying it out.
Jeremiah 17:9 says that "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?
We know from the Word of God that there is a sin issue in this world. Humans, in their fallen, untouched, human nature, will act like untouched fallen humans. When left to our own devices, sinful emotions will always result in wicked actions.
Sinful human nature means that when we are angry about the results of a trial, we want people to feel our anger, so we do what we thing will make them understand! We lash out, we hurt, we destroy in order to try to make others feel as bad as we do.
In our sin filled, human nature, we seek out earthly vengeance and label it "justice".
It is not our biological nature, but our SIN nature that causes us to rationalize these actions that are so destructive and evil.
It is not animal instinct, but wickedness that would cause a man to think that slaughtering a CHILD could be a stepping stone to success.
It is not us... Channeling our inner beast that makes us riot in the streets with the express intent of causing chaos and injury. It is the sinful, fallen nature of a human being who denies his Maker, and runs away from the beautiful mercy that is offered.
How... How beautiful of a thing would it be if there was no more of this? No more violence, no more pain and suffering for the innocent. No more injustice. No more hate, or anger?
We are promised that this will not happen on this earth. Mankind is full of sin, and sinners will act like sinners, and we cannot expect anything else.
The hope, my friends, is the amazing Gospel. The simple truth that God, who is rich in mercy and righteousness, came to earth as a perfect man, and died the death that we deserve. Cancelled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. When He died, He took our sin on Himself. When He rose again, He showed that He was qualified to do so.
Our God is a just God. Our sins demanded a payment, and He paid it in full, redeeming us from the consequences of our sins. Talk about justice huh?
The hope that we have, is in trusting in the God Who created us, to take away the sin that now plagues us. Asking forgiveness from the One Whom we have sinned against (Psalm 51), and asking for Him to put into us a new life. A life that lives for something more than the ordinary. To live a life committed to showing others the miraculous truth of God's life changing mercy.
A life lived in Christ does not mean that we will cease from all sin. But it means that we have new life that is guided into the righteousness of Christ.
I just want to leave you with this final thought:
God is good. Right? And there is good in every situation because He is good, and He is at work. We can trust Him to do good.
1 Peter 4:19 - Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
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