2 Samuel 18:18-33
Joab's
directly disobeyed King David's orders to protect Absalom. He knows it.
He also knows that someone has to go stand before the king and tell
him. He knows that King David is only concerned about one thing, even
though the enemy forces have been beat.
Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok - the chief priest - begs Joab to let him run to David to tell him the news. But, Joab knows that David may retaliate when he hears that Absalom is dead. So, he tells him no. Instead, Joab chooses a nameless Cushite soldier to deliver the news to David. However, Ahimaaz continues begging Joab to let him be the messenger, and he finally gives in.
If Joab delivers the news to the king, he will have to face the consequences of what he's done. He's fearful of what David will do to him. So, he shirks his responsibility onto someone else - someone who just might happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I remember lying once to my mom about where I was the night before. The truth was I was drunk, driving, and beat up the car pretty bad. I wasn't willing to face the music, so I dragged an unsuspecting friend into it. I told my mom I was with my friend the night before, and constructed this whole bogus story about how we were just driving along and decided to take an unpaved road to see what was down it. In the end, the side mirror was dangling, and about fifty pounds of dirt was clogged in the undercarriage.
I was too afraid to tell my mom the truth, so I tried to get my friend to support my lie. I used my friend to keep me out of trouble for my wrongdoing. Basically, I manipulated him in order to save my ass.
Joab wasn't willing to face the consequences of his actions - whatever they may be - so he put an
unsuspecting person in his place. He put someone else in danger to save his own skin.
When we aren't willing to accept responsibility for our own mistakes, it's easy to manipulate someone else into taking on our consequences. All we have to do is lie to the one we've hurt, and lie to the person we're manipulating. But eventually, the truth comes out. Eventually, we have to deal with it. The question is, how long can we live with ourselves? How long can we cover the truth?
For all we know, David could have forgiven Joab for his wrongdoing. He could have understood that in the heat of battle, things happen. But, Joab wasn't willing to even take the chance of facing his responsibilities.
Part of experiencing freedom is being brutally honest with other people, even when we intentionally go against orders. The news media doesn't help this at all. All day long, republicans blame democrats and vice versa. We are a society that doesn't take responsibility for our own actions, and love to blame faraway figures for the problems in the world. This also happens in the church. We see things that are broken and in need of repair, but instead of stepping up to the plate and asking ourselves, "How am I contributing to this mess," we blame the leaders. It's way easier to blame other people for problems, but emotional freedom is very hard to come by.
When
we see problems in the world - whether it be our work worlds, church
worlds, school worlds, etc. - I think we have to ask ourselves how we
contribute to the problem. Not taking action to restore the broken
pieces around us and in us contributes to the problem. I'm starting to
believe that whenever our hearts flare up about social injustice,
corruption, or broken systems, we are bring given signals for action.
The "holy discontent" we feel about certain things is not a sign
to start bitching and see if anybody hears us. It's a green light to
step into the solution and start creating ways to restore.
Today's Action: Pay attention to how many times we complain about something or someone today. Make a list if we have to. These are all internal signals that something needs to change, and it starts with us then goes outward. Are we using these "green lights" as pathways to restorative action, or are we ignoring them and continuing to bitch so people can hear us?
Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok - the chief priest - begs Joab to let him run to David to tell him the news. But, Joab knows that David may retaliate when he hears that Absalom is dead. So, he tells him no. Instead, Joab chooses a nameless Cushite soldier to deliver the news to David. However, Ahimaaz continues begging Joab to let him be the messenger, and he finally gives in.
If Joab delivers the news to the king, he will have to face the consequences of what he's done. He's fearful of what David will do to him. So, he shirks his responsibility onto someone else - someone who just might happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I remember lying once to my mom about where I was the night before. The truth was I was drunk, driving, and beat up the car pretty bad. I wasn't willing to face the music, so I dragged an unsuspecting friend into it. I told my mom I was with my friend the night before, and constructed this whole bogus story about how we were just driving along and decided to take an unpaved road to see what was down it. In the end, the side mirror was dangling, and about fifty pounds of dirt was clogged in the undercarriage.
I was too afraid to tell my mom the truth, so I tried to get my friend to support my lie. I used my friend to keep me out of trouble for my wrongdoing. Basically, I manipulated him in order to save my ass.
Joab wasn't willing to face the consequences of his actions - whatever they may be - so he put an
When we aren't willing to accept responsibility for our own mistakes, it's easy to manipulate someone else into taking on our consequences. All we have to do is lie to the one we've hurt, and lie to the person we're manipulating. But eventually, the truth comes out. Eventually, we have to deal with it. The question is, how long can we live with ourselves? How long can we cover the truth?
For all we know, David could have forgiven Joab for his wrongdoing. He could have understood that in the heat of battle, things happen. But, Joab wasn't willing to even take the chance of facing his responsibilities.
Part of experiencing freedom is being brutally honest with other people, even when we intentionally go against orders. The news media doesn't help this at all. All day long, republicans blame democrats and vice versa. We are a society that doesn't take responsibility for our own actions, and love to blame faraway figures for the problems in the world. This also happens in the church. We see things that are broken and in need of repair, but instead of stepping up to the plate and asking ourselves, "How am I contributing to this mess," we blame the leaders. It's way easier to blame other people for problems, but emotional freedom is very hard to come by.
Today's Action: Pay attention to how many times we complain about something or someone today. Make a list if we have to. These are all internal signals that something needs to change, and it starts with us then goes outward. Are we using these "green lights" as pathways to restorative action, or are we ignoring them and continuing to bitch so people can hear us?
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