Why do we blame the dark for being dark?

To put this in context, why do we blame those who are lost for being lost?

I guess if we’re going to talk about those who are lost, we need to start by identifying those who are “found.”  (In this scenario, I’m going to follow the lyrics of Amazing Grace and call the “found” those who know Jesus – Christians.)  If Christians are the ones who are to recognize and help those who are lost, then it’s important that they’re doing just that.

Let’s look at what they really are doing in the world today.  I've mentioned before the idea that we have to stop pointing fingers and we need to start creating change.  It's not enough to simply tell people that they're doing something wrong with picket signs and petitions.  Chances are, they don't see things the way we do or they wouldn't be doing those things. (They are lost, after all.) If we want them to do right – we need to begin by setting the example of doing right ourselves… by loving.

We need to turn the light on.

Some could argue that pointing out a person's error is the first step in the process to showing them the right way to be, but the truth is that method usually just turns people off.  We cause them to shut down.  And if we turn a person off in the first step, how can we expect them to listen to anything else we have to say?

If we want to look at an example of a Godly approach to those who sin, let’s look at Jesus and his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well (found in John 4).  Jesus' first step was to have a conversation by asking for a drink of water.

He didn't start by ridiculing her as a Samaritan... or as a woman.

He didn't start with accusations about her adulterous lifestyle... though he was aware of it.

He didn't start by telling her how fortunate she was to be in the presence of the Messiah and that she should bow down and worship... that's a choice she would later make for herself.

He asked her for a drink of water.

He found a way to relate to her in the moment when she was at the well and he broke the customs of the day to engage in a conversation with this Samaritan woman.  It was only after establishing a relationship with her - after He showed her that He cared about her - that her "darkness" came to the front and He was able to shine light on it... and she was changed.  She was no longer lost.

So instead of condemning, judging, or flaunting our moral superiority, maybe our first step should be relating.

In the process of relating, we not only give the impression that we care about the person we're talking to, we'll actually find our hearts warming to them until we really do care - and that will open the door to change... in them and in us.

A light will come on.  The lost will be found. 

And just maybe we’ll find we were the ones lost.

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me...  I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now I see." - John Newton