Godpiling

  Will Rodgers said, “There is nothing as easy as denouncing ... It don’t take much to see that something is wrong but it does take some eyesight to see what will put it right again.”  Dale Carnegie's take was “Any fool can criticize, complain, and condemn—and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.” Ben Franklin remarks a similar refrain, “I will speak ill of no man, not even in matter of truth; but rather excuse the faults I hear charged upon others, and upon proper occasion speak all the good I know of everybody.”

  What were these wise men trying to tell us? That if we think we are helping a problem by pointing it out to others, we’re not.

  If all you want to do is all your two cents to the mess, please keep the change.

  It is among the weakest, pettiest, and unproductive pursuits to dogpile on a problem. Anybody can see the problem. Anyone can show outrage against a wrong action. Everyone can lay blame.

Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. 

1^st Thessalonians 5:11

  But it takes a leader to find a solution. It takes someone of high character to try to make things right again. It takes a bigger person not to dwell on the wrongs and look for the rights.

  You see that in God. He didn’t just condemn man; he gave a path of redemption. He doesn’t just bemoan sin; he gives us a better way. He shows us the problem and then shows us the way out of it.

and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,

Hebrews 10:24

  Worldly people love to dogpile on a problem, Let me coin a new term, Godpile. It means instead of on jumping on the issue to find more fault, means finding a way to make it better. Instead of criticizing, complementing. Instead of finding fault, finding favor. Rather than venting, volunteering. If we spent half as much time righting as we did ranting, how much better would our world be?    

 So next time the chorus of boos start, how about we start the cheer. When everyone is yelling about the wrong, let applaud the right. Turn on the light rather than curse the darkness.