A Victim of System

Systems are unfortunately a necessary evil. We need structures, guidelines, laws, rules and regulations – and we need for others to follow them! Without them, society and technology break down. We like it when the system works for us, however, what we don’t like so much is when ‘we’ get caught in the machinery those systems. Systems work well for those who are able to swim downstream in the river of the status quo. But when we don’t fit in the system that the problems arise. It is easier than we would like to get tangled in the bureaucracy of a system. In most cases it was never the intention of the ‘system’ to trap people, to be impersonal and disempowering – so the answer is often to invent new systems that intent to fix the problem, but convolute the original problem – and in the end we discover we have – a government. It is frustrating to be one of the faceless in the queue of cold systems. It is often at these times we attempt to assert our identity – “I have a name, I am a person, I have value, I matter, I have feelings”. When we feel we are getting caught in a system, we can engage in some otherwise untypical behaviours. Ever talked to Revenue Canada on the phone - a utility company, or City Hall? These experiences can take us right to our Spiritual Edge and make us jump off!

As much as we dislike systems, we ourselves can categorize and systematize those around us. We expect people to function and behaviour according to our approved system. When people don’t cooperate, they can get caught in our system. So much of what Jesus came to do was to disentangle people from the humanly created systems. People became trapped, defined and judged by systems created by those in power. The danger is we can all create our little systems of power that entangle others. Who gets entangled? It those persons who have less ‘power’ that don’t fit within our own status quo. Alas, it often in our own attempts to assert our own identities to prove that “I” matter, that “I” have value that creates these systems.

Jesus says “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32 and again in

John 10: 10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Jesus entered the system in order to come along side those trapped and defined by it. He was even willing to bear the shame and penalty for daring to swim against the current of status quo. His strategy is a strange one. Respond to anger with love. When wronged, forgive. When rejected, accept. When cursed, bless. When denied, believe. When persecuted, rejoice. When reviled, grace. When disappointed, hope. When misunderstood, understand. When others are threaten by the system – step in between. One of the most powerful examples of Jesus stepping between a person and system is in the account of the adulterous woman. The system was right, by law she deserved to be stone. However, God isn't a system, He is love, mercy, grace, forgiveness and justice that just defys our systems.

Jesus modeled for us that in order to truly bring hope and change to those who imprisoned by the system, we must be willing to personally enter, stand a long side, defend and lift people out of the pits that have been dug by others. All the while being instruments of mercy, grace and gentleness. As we look around us, who do we see that are caught in ‘a system’ that we can be part of their release. I must be willing to confront the possibility that perhaps I have created my own systems which people have been caught in.

Anyway, I was just thinking.

Neil