Today’s Scripture Reading (December
19, 2014): 2 Corinthians 5
What I am
about to say might not win me any friends, but I feel sorry for Bill Cosby.
Okay, that may not be completely true. My emotional response to Mr. Cosby’s
legal troubles is probably a little more complex than that. The truth is that Bill
Cosby has made me laugh many times over the years – sometimes with just that
turn and stare maneuver that he always does so well. Bill Cosby has been
permanent fixture in my entertainment world. From his “I Spy” days (which admittedly
I have only known in reruns) to Fat Albert (what kid of my generation didn’t
love to hear the “Hey, hey, hey” of Fat Albert) to the various versions of the
Cosby show, Bill has simply been there. He has been respected by most, taught
me to eat “Philly Style Subs” (subs stuffed with potato chips) and in many ways
was simply special.
And no, I do
not condone his actions. Deep down I just wish things were different. Obviously
as I write this everything is still up in the air. Every day seems to bring
more women forward with charges to lay at the comedian’s feet – most seem to be
actual allegations, but I suspect that some might simply be the lunatic fringe
looking for attention, and that is a problem and it taints the testimony of the
women who were actually assaulted by Cosby. And all of this influences the main
question that is currently being asked, and one that we can’t answer this close
to the allegations. The question that needs to be answered at some point in the
future is simply this - is it possible
to separate Bill Cosby the man, from the art of Bill Cosby. But it is a
question that will simply have to wait.
But … there
is also something else at work here. It is a familiar story that we see at work
in several areas of life. Often with the rich and the famous, but also sometimes
among some of the rest of us. It is the idea of entitlement. At some point we forget
who we are, and we begin to believe that we are something that we are not.
Maybe it is simply that the rules don’t apply to us (which if the allegations
prove to be true it would seem that Mr. Cosby came to believe.) Maybe it is in
the belief that our intentions are different than other peoples, even though
our actions are the same. This might be the most common excuse of people in my
circle of influence – when I do this it is because it just has to be done, but
when they do it they are just being mean. Either way, the end result is that we
come to feel that we are entitled.
Paul seemed
to realize that this was our weakness. So he reminds us of what he sees as our
reality. First we need to understand that Jesus died because we are all dead. Specifically,
Christ died because there is no way that any of us are spiritually
self-sufficient. We simply cannot choose what is right. We needed help, and
that help came from the death of Christ. Again, Jesus did not die to make us
good, he died to allow us to live.
But the
second thing that we need to understand is the reason why Christ died – he died
because of his love for us. (Note, this passage is not about our love for him,
it is clearly about his love for us.) And the result of Christ’s love is that
we are compelled, or constrained, or even contained. The idea is that we become
a people under orders. We are an army charged to love others the way that we
have been loved, we are compelled to treat others with the utmost respect
because that is the way that God has treated us. We are not entitled – we can’t
be. We are compelled not to be.
It is
something that we need to be reminded of. Christ’s love for us has placed us
under an obligation as his soldiers to join him at the task of making this
world a better place. Anything less is simply not good enough. And this
obligation rules out any kind of entitlement.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2
Corinthians 6
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