Highway justice
For I the Lord love justice…
Isaiah 61:8
My new route to work has a two-lanes-become-one merge point both on the way to work and on my commute home 1. Typically, the good Nebraskans line up in the through lane and wait their turn, but occasionally somebody who is way more important than us slips into the merging lane and floors it when the light turns green. Usually I'm too many cars back to do anything about it, so I watch helplessly as the "cutter" moves to the front of the line.
But not today.
On the way home, traffic was backed up more than usual northbound on 27th street at Highway 2. I waited my turn, missed the light, and ended up two cars back. As expected, a couple of cars pulled up in the right lane while the rest of us behaved ourselves. When the light changed, the first car gunned it and blew past the guy in front of me. The second car, to my right, tried to speed past me but couldn't. They slowed down, and so did I. They sped up, and so did I. And then they had to turn into the Shopko parking lot when the lane ended.
Maybe there's something wrong with me, but seeing that car get snubbed absolutely made my day. I felt like, at least in some little, insignificant way, that I had participated in the righting of an injustice. Somebody tried to cheat, and I didn't let them get their way.
So, that's my question…. Is there something wrong with me? Am I a huge jerk for not letting that car in? Does it matter (in either direction) that it was a snobby-looking lady driving a Lexus and talking on her cell phone? Or, is there maybe something good and just about turning back a cheater who is breaking the rules to put themselves ahead of everyone else?
- Ah, the joy of 27th street and the Lincoln City Council's inability to muster up enough spine to cut down a few trees and widen the only stretch of 2 lane on the road between Yankee Hill and the Interstate [back]
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Mankind (and by that I refer mostly to the male species) reacts to this situation instinctively on a number of different fronts. First is our desire to "protect our turf". Second is our sense of justice "it isn't fair", and third a sense of competition. Everyone of us if honest have either reacted or strongly wanted to react this way, but I think if one has an opportunity to reflect afterwards, the "mature" (and by that I mean one that has developed past reacting as a primitive cave man) may react differently. We don't know what is going on in that other persons life. What if there is an emergency that they are trying to get to? Ask yourself how you would feel if that person you didn't allow to cut in was on the way to the hospital and misses saying goodbye to a loved one or the birth of their child. What if that was God's way of just slowing you down for a minute to think about something or keep you from being in the wrong place at the wrong time? What if it was just God's way of teaching you patiance? (Yes I know you could say what if it was God's way of using me to teach that guy a lesson.) The bottom line is that we don't know but I think for the most part it is better to error on the side of grace (which we are certainly glad that God does) and let Him deal with it. It is always better to do the "right thing" and if someone else gets ahead (although briefly) by cheating that is His concern. Your conscience is clear by doing what you are suppose to do. After all, what would it be like if everyone in society succombed to our basic instincts? Do you think the other driver saw the light and figures "Oh my gosh I shouldn't be doing this and I will repent" or do you think they may be more likely to be angry and maybe act unkindly to someone else later in the day. I will admit to having done the same thing, and probably will do it in the future, but I will also say, that in most cases I regret taking the actions I did but rarely regret being kind and letting someone in because I know it is the right thing to do. As the big sign says as you enter Texas, "Drive Friendly out there"
I can understand the sentiment. In this type of situation, it usually is just a jerk who thinks they can get away with not waiting their turn, but Tex brings up some valid possibilities. What are the odds that the other driver really is going to the hospital? …Or that they simply weren't paying attention and ended up in the wrong lane? Well, not good, but "love hopes all things," right?
I became a much happier (read: less angry) driver when my older brother reminded me that all the other drivers and I are "on the same team." We're all just trying to get to our destinations safely. Let's make it happen.
"Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. . . . Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'
"But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.
"Do not be overcome by evil, bu overcome evil with good."
Ro 12.18-21.
Yes, the cell phone and Lexus make all the difference.
And WHY is there is no 4-lane north-south street in Lincoln between 10th and 70th? Unbelievable.
OK. I was pretty sure that this was probably a "Love your neighbor" issue. But, I still think that it is a little more complicated than that.
To go ad absurdum here, are we called to just stand by when we see somebody stealing a TV? Just let God deal with it, right? Or, several notches further, if we see a guy beating his wife, it's better to be charitable to him than step in. In these three cases, though at admittedly different degrees, someone is being wronged by someone else. Do Christians ever have a right (an obligation?) to confront evil? Is there a threshold that has to be crossed? Is it rampaging Nazis? Is it rampaging Planned Parenthood docs? Is it any time we see injustice, no matter what the level?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to absolve myself. I almost entitled this post "Confession?" because I was pretty sure I hadn't done the right thing. Still, I think the interesting thing here (hence my bringing it up) is the question of when Christians are required (or at least allowed) to pursue justice when somebody tries to cheat everyone else.
Hmm.
First, don't get me wrong. I sin a lot in my car, so I've given it some thought. My conclusion is that I should stop. So I'm not throwing the first stone. Rather, I'm sharing why I think I sin, and why I repent when I act as you describe, and seek not to act that way again.
There is a well-recognized distinction between "defense of others" and "punishing others." The first has an immediacy that the latter lacks. (The law allows intervention to prevent a T.V. from being stolen. But the intervention cannot punish the putative thief, you can only take that action necessary to stop the theft itself. But once it's stolen, you can't go and steal it back, you need to call the cops. Same with someone who's beating his wife.)
But I don't think that's the issue here. Rather, it's a "turn-the-other-cheek" situation.
I mean, really. What's the harm here? Sometimes someone pushes forward. If they think that they're so important that they're justified in doing so, either it's true (they are justified), or they have bigger issues to deal with than my cutting them off will deal with.
I don't know. I guess I just don't want to be the type of person who sweats that sort of thing.
I do think that there are tough cases, where our obligations to love (and so to defend) the putative victim come into seeming conflictg with our obligation to love the aggressor. But I don't really think that this is one of them.