Excuses…Excuses…Excuses…the one thing that really gets under my skin. When and how has society fallen so far? It seems that all we hear now days are excuses: “I was pulled over, ticketed, and tasered because the cops are racist,” not because I was driving recklessly and resisted arrest. Then there is the flag debate, flying a Christian flag has now become another form of protest rather than an expression of deeply held beliefs and convictions, as a result the freedom from religion advocates show up to protest the protest. Of course how could we forget about our politicians who are apparently not immune from such excuses and blatant stupidity themselves (i.e. Benghazi, the Bin laden raid, gay marriage, abortion, and any number of other hot button issues). There used to be a time when men didn’t make excuses, instead they went to work. If they saw something they didn’t like, they changed it. The World War II generation may not have been the most educated or enlightened generation of our time, but they were certainly one of the hardest working. This bode well America and we will never forget their sacrifices. I ask, what sacrifices are we making for the next generation? Never mind, I already know the answer.

I remember while serving in the United States Army (Infantry) how often it was drilled into us to accept personal responsibility and accountability for every decision we made. This concept is sorely lacking in society. Nobody wants to accept responsibility for their actions anymore. When we see something we don’t like instead of working to fix the problem, we protest, thinking that through some passive resistant effort we’ll bring the change we are looking for. If that doesn’t work, we can always resort to violent protests. Violence always gets attention, however it rarely brings change. In fact you could make the argument that the conditions get worse at the onset of violence.

The Christian is not immune from making excuses either, I am inclined to believe that we are actually worse about making excuses than the rest of the pagan world. Think I’m wrong, consider the amount of time you have read the bible this week alone, the time spent in prayer, or the time spent making disciples. Now ask, why is that? No need, I already know, you’re too busy right? Wrong, the truth is you’re too lazy, take a lesson from the ant you sluggard. God commanded that we work, this concept is not relegated to your secular job. It is a concept that is all inclusive: Marriage, children, disciples, prayer, bible study, careers; we are commanded to work. Stop complaining and just do the work. If you don’t like the way police are treating criminals, become a police officer, use the opportunity to educate your co-workers on the proper way to deal with the criminal element. If you don’t like how your local, state, or federally elected politicians are handling the affairs of the people they’re representing; run for office and use the opportunity to introduce policy that reflects the minds of your constituents. If you don’t like the irreverent attitude of the younger generation in church, take the opportunity to teach them the importance of reverence. In other words stop complaining and do the work. The reality is that protesting, while on the surface appears to be our civic duty, it is actually the opposite. Protesting for change is counterproductive, working for change is not. Working is our duty, not only to God but also to man. If every man works every man contributes, and when every man contributes everyone benefits. This is true in society, and the church. I for one am sick of seeing those whining, wolf crying, cynics spew their ignorant world views all over social and broadcast media every chance they get. Likewise I am equally tired of seeing the church at large whine and complain about how unfairly they are being treated. Just do the work, and at the end of the day you’ll find that you’re just simply too tired to complain. We are to do all things without whining or complaining. If you happen to be offended by all this, then that probably means the shoe fits. Don’t feel bad though the shoe fit me as well.