7 minute read
By Bethany Rees

Have you ever struggled to explain world events to kids? Lord knows I have! And here lately I’ve been asking God to give me an eternal perspective of events so that I can learn God’s lesson in any circumstance, and then be able to explain that perspective to my children. 

And our God is always so good to teach us the lesson if we only stop our busy minds and listen. 

And you know when you ask, you shall receive. The more I pray and ask, the more God is revealing to me the lesson learned in any situation, so I can better see from an eternal perspective instead of a worldly one. And the eternal perspective is what I want to be able to model and teach my children.

In other words, our kids are exposed to things and events whether we like it or not, so we need to be ready and able to explain the eternal perspective so they can grow in Godly wisdom from the lesson learned.

God often gives us many lessons learned so we can internalize and experience not only the fruit of His Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self control) but His perspective on how to love others better by being the light in this dark world. 

No matter the situation, and whether you are an engaged participant or an innocent bystander, there is always a way to see the situation from an eternal perspective and a lesson to be learned. 

And this lesson my friends, is where God’s wisdom comes in. For true wisdom is found in God and the lessons He teaches (not only from introspection about our own circumstances, but reflection on others circumstances). So whether it’s you going through a hard time or someone else, there is always a lesson to be learned and a light of Christ to be shown. And this is how I’m learning to break down worldly events to my kids. 

“The one who gets wisdom loves life, the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.”

~Proverbs 19:8 

So this week, I want us to reflect on a recent event that has been all over our news feeds and social media. Why? Because when we are witnesses to events or when a specific event is all that people are talking about, we can learn the lesson God has for us, and then apply that lesson to be the light of Christ.

So here is a lesson that I learned over the past week and felt that God called me to share with you. 

The Oscar Slap Heard Around the World

Let me be upfront…I do not watch the Oscars or any other awards show, but it is hard not to know what happened at the 2022 Oscars. It was on my national and local TV news, my news feeds, and my social media feeds. Will Smith slapped Chris Rock.

Notice I didn’t say Chris Rock made a not so funny joke about Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. The headlines are reading Will Smith’s name and action first in the headlines.

The reality is that for all the good Smith has done in contributing to the arts, he is now sitting in public judgment for his actions at the Oscars. 

Now, on seeing Will Smith slap Chris Rock, my inquisitive daughter, who loves asking big questions, asked why the Aladdin genie hit the other guy. Oh so often I find myself asking God for the lesson learned just so I can explain our world to my children. 

So here are the talking points of our “lesson learned” conversation in discussing the slap heard around Hollywood and the internet. 

Note: I did go through all the points with my daughter but used only the italicized concepts with her…but, I figure you all are adults and might want the full lesson I learned from that conflict. 

My daughter asked “why did the Aladdin genie guy slap the other guy?”

Lesson 1 - All people are sinners.

Our society tends to put people on pedestals but…

the truth is that no matter who a person is, how famous they are, or how rich they are…every single person is a sinner in need of God. 

And because we are all sinners, we all make bad choices sometimes. 

For example, people will often say mean things in order to get attention (good or bad) from other people. Like the class clowns in school, comedians are known for cracking jokes, even hurtful ones, in order to get the attention and laugh of the audience.

Now when people make fun of others to get attention, it can hurt the other person’s feelings so much that they react in anger. So when Chris Rock made fun of Will Smith’s wife, Will Smith walked up in anger and slapped him. 

Again, we are all sinners and make mistakes but these two men just happen to showcase it on live TV.

Whether it’s middle school, high school, the workplace, social media or Hollywood, people crave attention, affirmation, and validation from others. But if affirmation and validation cannot be had, we can live…unhappily, but live just the same…with attention. Whether it is good or bad. 

Then my daughter said, “well if someone said something bad about you, I’d slap them too.” 

Lesson 2 - We can’t Let Other People’s Actions Dictate Our Own Actions.

When people mistreat us, we shouldn’t overreact and make the event about us. We shouldn’t allow people’s actions to have power over our own self control. 

In other words, if someone is mean to you, let the situation be about them and how they acted and not about you and how you acted.

When people mistreat us, we can’t react in such a way that the story now becomes about us and our actions instead of about them and their actions. People's mistreatment of others says WAY more about their heart than it does about the one being mistreated.

If you have survived middle school and high school then you have survived being made fun of in some regard. Very few people make it through school unscathed from the wounds of being mistreated. Unfortunately we don’t always learn the lesson of how to react with dignity and humble confidence. 

Sure there’s the fight or flight natural mechanisms we are born with, but there is also the internalizing of the mistreatment and development of deep wounds and lies about us as a result. 

Why is it that we so easily hand over our power of self in order to engage with those that mistreat us? 

It is our own flesh and sin as a human that leads us to let people get under our skin and prompt us to anger.  

My daughter said, “I still think I would hit him.”

Lesson 3 - Ownership is always a must.

You shouldn’t ever resort to violence but know that no matter what choice you make you will need to own your decision and the consequences that come along with it. Will Smith will have consequences for his actions. 

At some point in our lives we have all either overreacted or acted poorly in a situation. Now, we may not be filmed like the fights at a school and then posted on social media for all to see, but we can and do cause scenes: scenes within our closest relationships and scenes within places we frequent. 

From parents acting a fool at their child’s ballgame to blowing up at a spouse or kid for a misunderstanding, we’ve probably all reacted to someone or something that has us cringing when we remember it. 

So how do you overcome your outrageous moment? 

You own it. You don’t justify it. You take extreme ownership of it and work towards forgiveness and reconciliation if possible of any damages done. Damages to relationships, to property, and if you are in the spotlight… damages to your public image. 

So my daughter asked “are they going to take his Oscar away?”

Lesson 3 - Zoom Out. 

Will Smith won’t be able to take his trophy to heaven if he is a believer in Jesus, so it really doesn’t matter what they do to his Oscar. I do hope that he cares more about his relationship with God than his relationship with the Academy or even the people on the news or on social media.

We live in a gossip culture where everyone wants to ride the coattails of a story in order to feel significant. 

When a wreck happens we all rubberneck to get a good look. When there is a fight at school, students all stand around and video it. From the gruesome “entertainment” played out in the Roman Colosseum until now, humans love to not only watch the drama and “figurative trainwreck” but to talk about it so they appear to be in the know. 

When humiliation occurs, there is a great shaming that comes along for the ride. Shame is a great tool of the devil to keep people in isolation and away from seeking God and a loving community of support. Shame these days seems to have grown a second head called “cancel culture.” 

My daughter’s final thought was “I bet he doesn’t get another acting job because of this.” 

Lesson 4 - Let He who is without sin cast the first stone.

He may not, but again that doesn’t matter. We don’t live for other people.  All that matters is that God loves him, and so does his family. While this moment may define him in the public’s opinion, it doesn’t define who he is in Christ. It’s not our place to judge other people and remember that God forgives all sin.

While everyone is jumping on the bandwagon making fun of the situation with their memes or analyzing the situation like I am, I want to emphasize the 4th but most important lesson from the bible…John 8:7b “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 

We are not to throw stones or crucify those that sin but love them. Love them back to life and back to Christ.  At some point you have, or you will, lose your cool and overreact..for we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 5:8)...but just like God always forgives us of our sins, we should forgive others. 

Because society is so "connected" to what is happening all over the world and in every genre of life, we are often put in situations to talk about situations or topics we otherwise wouldn't know about or care to discuss. We are living in the information age where there is A LOT of information to digest. And that also means we are living in times where kids see and experience A LOT more than we ever did as kids. 

But we are not to stick our heads in the sand and ignore the world. In every situation, God always has a lesson for us to learn. By learning the lesson and sharing it with others, God will use all circumstances (our's or other's) for His good!

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. Learn the Lessons God Places Before You.

Rocks before Sand!

Scripture: 

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” 

~Ephesians 4:32

Theme Song: 

You are More - Tenth Avenue North

References Used:

• Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. https://www.biblegateway.com