Submitted by Michael Burns on Fri, 03/22/2013 - 23:11
Posted in
Why does it seem so many people today do not know how to handle situations that make them feel uncomfortable or upset?
Matthew 18:15-17 instructs us how to handle a situation where a "brother or sister sins." This same prescription can be applied even when "sin" isn't the issue. First, we talk with the individual directly, face to face. If that doesn't work, then we bring one or two others with us and talk with the individual again. If that still doesn't work, then we go to those who are in a position of authority, such as a supervisor at work or event organizers if at an event or the Church. If they still don't listen then, as 17b suggests, we ignore them, they aren't worth our time.
A recent event that occurred at PyCon, a conference for Python developers, is a prime example of what happens when someone does not handle the situation properly. The person who was offended expressed their feelings in public via Twitter without ever speaking to those who offended them. The organizers of the conference became aware of the Twitter post and pulled the poster and those who offended them aside. Apologies were given and all was well. Unfortunately, that was not the end of the story. Since they aired their feelings publicly, others got involved in the situation. In the end, one of the individuals who had offended the poster had been fired, the hacker group Anonymous had taken down the poster's website and the website of the company they worked for and, ultimately, they were fired as well.
We need to do a better job of handling these types of situations. We can not rush to air our grievances in public. In our overly politically correct society, airing these types of incidents will have far worse consequences than what we had ever intended.
God has given us the prescription for handling these types of situations. Please, let's remember to follow that prescription!
References:
Matthew 18:15-17 --
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2018:15-17&version=NIV
PyCon incident --
http://news.msn.com/science-technology/techie-fired-after-complaining-on-twitter-about-sexual-jokes
