Earlier this week, United Airlines forceably removed Dr. David Dao, sixty-nine years old, as he was seated in a plane at Chicago O'Hare. Their reason was that the seats were needed for employees heading to another flight, which may have cause that flight to be cancelled. When no passengers volunteered to step down, some were selected involuntarily. One of those passengers was Dr. Dao, who refused, stating he had patients he needed to care for. What followed was a horrific scene of the bloodied man being dragged down the aisle of the plane. After this incident which has caused international attention, United's CEO, Oscar Munoz, chose to lay blame on the passenger and only apologize that someone had to be "re-accommodated" (Mr. Munoz did manage to apologize later, after much uproar and a dive in the value of United's shares).
As Christians, there are lessons to be learned from this story about our journey in this world, and the role we play in it:
1) Beyond doctrine, worship styles, regional backgrounds, and political viewpoints, the one thing that we have in common is that we are all sinners who need God's forgiveness. In this, United We Stand. No matter what practices we may put in place to live right (as United has probably tried to do, and we certainly should), it is at the base of our nature, and we are just not going to be perfect. Sometimes, we will even fail terribly, "for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23 WEB). The sooner we know this, the sooner we can let God be the driver in our lives. The alternative is for us to drive and ask God to tow us out of the ditch periodically :).
2) The world is watching us, and will often record us as well. "What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? (James 2:14 WEB). People will know if our words to not match our actions. We are better off just acknowledging our shortcomings, rather than claim to be more mature than we are and cause others to stumble through our hypocrisy.
3) Lucifer's rebellion gave pride the "honor" of being the original sin. Let's not allow it to prevent us from repenting for our misdeeds. For instance, in contrast to United's actions, the CEO of Korean Air gave a humble and full apology in 2014, when his own daughter caused an incident, which quickly defused the situation. If we repent immediately and allow God to help us, it will save us a lot of heartache. Let's not try to deflect by blaming others or minimize with fake words like United's "re-accommodate". God already knows anyway, and all He wants to do is help us overcome, so let's let Him!
Just as the United Airlines incident has been a disaster for the company's financial health, letting our sin eat at us is toxic for our spiritual, mental and even physical health. "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23 WEB). I encourage you to humbly give it to Jesus, and let Him help you to overcome through His grace, power and love!
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I could not agree more with you Sylvia!!! For it is by Grace & Grace alone that we are saved & we can only access this Grace through repentance. Love you Sister <3
Amen, Tracy <3!
I love this! What a great reminder for all of us! I used to tell my children that an apology wasnt complete until they said, I am sorry for______________ and I hope you will forgive me. I wanted them to take responsibility for thier actions as well as express remorse. When people shout out "Sorry" and consider that an apology i am disappointed because it doesnt feel lilke they even understand what happened! And how sad...as in this case with United Airlines, that they are finely publically shamed until they apoligize. We all need to own up to our mistakes, make it clear that we know we have sinned, and ask for forgiveness! Thank you!
Agreed, Julie, that is wonderful that you taught your kids when they were young. It's probably saved them untold embarrassment and trials!
I totally agree.
The quicker that you fess up to it, the sooner that it is behind you. David spent a year with his life wasting away before he repented. The blame game never works, and I still hate flying... :)
Pastor Dion, I have always had an unhealthy fear of flying!!!! LOL After this incident, I would say that the fear will never go away! :)
Haha, I have never had a problem with flying in the past, but will all of the travel bans lately and now this latest thing, I think that we will just drive :). We like getting to see the country anyway ;)
Exactly! Our country is beautiful and we should just drive it! LOL
Indeed, Karen, lol! We look forward to driving through the great state of Texas again someday :)!
Well, y'all are always welcome at our house!!!!
Thank you so much, Karen, we would love that :)!
Amen , good word Sylvia . The the world around us is just crazy , God is so good to hear our cries and to forgive us of our sins , when we put him first. Amen
Amen, Chris, no matter how low we think we have gone, His arm is always long enough to pull us up!
Very well written Sylvia,I know it's easy for me to come back to the sin, or pretend I didn't know about it.
Cindy, I think we all have weaknesses in certain areas. If we were so perfect, we wouldn't need God :)!
Blessings to you Sylvia..I do agree
Blessings to you too, sister, thank you :)!
Thank you for posting this, Sylvia! We, as Christians, always seem to have the eyes of the world upon us & if we mess up, then it's quickly pointed out. But we are not perfect! No one is! So yes, we are going to stumble & we're going to fall. But as long as we get up & try again, then I believe God is happy with us. I know that in my personal life, I do try to not give anyone any reason to think that I'm not a Christian or that my beliefs & actions are not Christ-like. I strive daily to be they hands & feet of Jesus! Do I always succeed? Not by any stretch of the imagination! If I do something wrong, then I will take responsibility for my actions. But we can't, for one minute, stop trying to be like Jesus!
Amen, Karen! I agree, it's on each of us to be the salt and the light, to the best we can and still be "real", which of course, we all do imperfectly :). I prefer that people don't excessively high expectations for me, 'cause I'm probably not going to meet them - it's nicer when they can be pleasantly surprised, lol :D
Well, from what I know of you, Sylvia, you are a wonderful person! One I'm honored to call friend! You & Pastor Dion have done so much for Perry & I & we thank God daily for both of you! Keep on being you!!!!! Hugs!!!!
Haha, I try, but we all have our moments :D! We love you both and are so honored to have y'all in our lives, as well <3! (((HUGS)))
Amen!! Thank You, Sylvia!!! Well said and I am alwayss one to repent really fast sometimes i'm not sure if it was a sin. I still repent even if I think is was a sin to be covered. Amen. <3
Haha, that sounds good, Diane, that way you are covered :)!
You speak the truth Sylvia. I had a boss once who told us employees,"If you ever screw up with anything on the job,let me know immediately so we can fix it,replace it and/or figure out a safer way to do what needs to be done. Because it'll be better for you in the long run than if you don't say anything and I find out or if you lie about it." I think that's in line with God's will rather than to ignore or hope a problem will go away. Much more so trying to deal with a problem beyond our control by our own power or understanding,usually we fail...I'm a firm believer in bringing it all to God. I've seen Him answer several small requests in rapid succession on many occasions. To me that is witnessing small miricles take place which are all the more proof that God is real and He hears us!
Amen, Richard, you had a wise boss there! I believe that is how God wants it also - if we give it to Him, you and He can fix it together, instead of trying to just doing it on our own!
Thank you Slyvia that was very well said and very much the truth. In my present job that I have been with now for 12 years and in the same position in our dept. I am the only believer and Christian in the dept. In one of our departmental meetings when all the employees were present all five of us including the dept. manager. There was a situtaion that arouse and it was suggested that i lie about the situation to save face for our deptartment involving another employee from a different dept and the mistake was ours. I cannot and will not do that as that is lying to another person and you all know me and know my beliefs and i have to be an example and resource to not only you my boss but the entire dept here and the rest of the hospital departments. My boss broke right in and said well of course you should not lie. It ends up because i did tell the truth and no one else would the other department person approached me and told that was special as she said she had never even seen me use a curse word as many do sometimes in the business or caught in a lie as several of my dept coworkers have been. We are always noticed each day in our workplace even when we do not realize that.
Richard, we have a friend who, when he was much younger and struggling to raise a family, was told that he had to do something deceptive in his work practice. He was, I think, fixing radios and was told to automatically tell every customer that a certain repair was needed, whether it did or not. He told them that, as a Christian, he could and would not do that, even though he really needed the job. Not only did they not fire him, they gave him a promotion, because he had proved himself trustworthy under pressure. The people at your workplace likely look at you like that. Praying that His light will shine through you to all of those in your company!
Thank you Sylvia. Amen.
Thanks Sylvia! This is a good way to live. The only way in God's eyes. What an example He is for us. We all stumble but can get back up stronger than ever because of His Son! Easter blessings to you & Todd!
Amen, Patty <3!