The Wrong Stuff-Trayvon Martin & George Zimmerman

Photo from here

One of the great struggles in the Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman incident is distilling a moral lesson takeaway that all sides and perspectives can walk away with. The tug-of-war of who did what frays the civic rope. How can we pull in the same direction, against a common enemy, no matter our view of what went down and who was at fault?

For the record, I think Zimmerman was a cop-wannabe with a gun itching to make an example to the thieves in his neighborhood, Martin a teenager who didn't appreciate being stalked and let his fists speak. But, whatever, no one else was there and dead kid's don't testify. No doubt if Travon was a white boy, things would have played differently.

Here is the essential message. Zimmerman was protecting stuff by his vigilante vigilance. There was a warping of the importance of people versus things. People are eternal, things are passing. The Bible is remarkably simplistic about the mechanics of the creation of the universe. God spoke and it was. No big to do about it. This is not to diminish the wonder of creation and moreover, the awesome power of the Creator. But, God dedicates an enormous amount of time and energy in redeeming people, not things. Primarily, giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sin.

It is not unusual to hear of kids in the inner city dying over someone snatching a pair of sneakers. Or, corporate mavens maximizing their compensation with little consideration of the human catastrophic consequences. An essentially idolatrous activity where money is more important than people.

Yet, I believe in law and order, the police, and the essential need for society to protect property. For when private property is not protected, soon people perish. The 20th and 21st century in particular show us the effects of materialism--that if this is all there is--do with it as your power permits. Discussions of right and wrong dim in light of the cessation of existence and non-eternal nature of humanity and personality. Nihilism is the logical consequence of materialism. Where nothing matters because it is only matter.

But, protection of property is a lot different in trusting in the protection of property. Jesus says that we can gain the whole world--the whole stinking and seductive world--and lose our soul. And this debate is more about the loss of soul versus the loss of a life. May the events of this incident, as tragic as they are, cause us to reflect on matters of the soul.