Enabling? Gas Lighting?

What do those words mean?

We also have related words like “woke” which is emotional and not thoughtful and rational reactions, and “narcissism.” which is focusing the attention and benefits on ourselves.

And here are two more words: “Bud Lite.” You probably know about the arguments, a corporation made a controversial decision about sponsorship. At this time, the company has lost about five billion dollars in value.

That’s a billion with a “B.”

• READ: Celebrities Take Sides in Bud Light Controversy

So, let’s try something impossible. Let’s try to understand without joining the emotional argument. The whole world is taking sides, but let’s try to be clinical. This argument is a symptom of something much larger.

If we are honest, modern expressions like enabling and gaslighting describe us, and the way we talk to friends and relatives. I am a Christian, and I know, a lot of organized religion includes manipulation … We should just do what we are told, and we don’t need to think about it.

I know a younger man who is interested in politics, and he is starting to grow up and become cynical. He told me that most people he meets don’t want to make decisions and want someone else to do the serious thinking.

Growing up can be painful, and he is correct.

Our modern society has one big problem; we want to join, and we want to be accepted and possibly loved. The truth is not as important as being ‘one of them.’

Some critics claim that “woke” thinking is mostly a need to belong and to believe what ‘those people’ believe. We want to be members of the popular crowd.

This is a spiritual sickness in our society, and there is a pattern of enabling and gaslighting:

Lazy: We can easily start by making the original decision; we will not make any important decisions. This is what my young friend saw. Other people can give direction to our lives.

A Victim: When we give our direction to other people, we become a victim and we are not responsible, even when we really are responsible.

An Offender: When we accept that we are never responsible, and we become victims of domineering advisors, we pull other people into our world. It is easy for ‘poor me’ to be a gaslighting bully.

Why should other people have a different experience from me? And so the victim becomes the bully:

So, what is the spiritual answer to our spiritual sickness?

Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! (Lamentations 3:40)

If we don’t carefully choose a direction for life, someone will give it to us, and the rest is easy; we slide down from there.

We should all do this: Before we give our opinion on the latest argument, we should know who we are. We should determine who we are.

If we can’t find any words of wisdom, we probably don’t have wisdom.

The challenge is to find the foundations of your life, and laziness is the wrong place to start.

With the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Romans 10:10)