An orange in a bowl of apples
Martha Olawale
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8
When Beaver and his friends in the sixty's sitcom "Just Leave It to Beaver" decided to wear their monster sweatshirts to school, he ignored his parents' instruction and wore the shirt anyway. When the school reported him, he told his Dad he wore the shirt because he thought the other boys would do the same thing. Thinking that he could hide his wrong in the crowd, he was surprised that his friends decided against the choice to disobey their parents and left him to face the consequences of his actions.
Like Beaver, It's easy for us all to hide behind the crowd, but ultimately, we will face the consequences of every decision we make. What separates right and wrong is shrinking daily because the simple judgment of right or wrong no longer measures our morality scale. We seek the crowd's verdict before we check with our conscience if our choices make sense or align with God. If we have others doing it, then it must be acceptable. We champion things before weighing them on the scale of eternity or taking the time to measure the cost for our soul's health.
We are each an entity created for choice, and we can think for ourselves to choose right or wrong. An orange in a bowl of apples doesn't become an apple, and one wrong in a million rights doesn't become right. Wrong will always be wrong, even if it hides in an ocean of rights. It takes you to make that choice because there'll be no one behind ‘you’ helping to justify your decisions here on earth when you stand alone before God.
Paul said in Philippians 4:8, ‘Think.’ The crowd that voted for Christ to be crucified did not think because if they did, they would remember how He healed the blind, raised the dead, fed the hungry, and touched every life He encountered. He did no wrong, yet they condemned Him. He was the best thing that happened to humanity, and they missed it because they muddled right with wrong.
At the end of the episode, Beaver’s Dad explains to him why his choice to disobey his parents was wrong. He said, "It's still wrong, no matter how many people do it. Wrong is wrong even when everyone else says it's right, and right is right even when everyone else says it's wrong." If we look beyond our worldly affiliations to narrow our decision-making to align with pleasing God, it won't matter what the crowd thinks; it will only matter if, in God’s order of life and godliness, it's right or wrong. You are an entity, and your choices are yours, regardless of the chants you join in.
