As you will be aware, over the last 4 nights we in the UK have watched with stunned horror as a disillusioned and detached generation riot, loot and burn homes & shops in and around the UK, including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, and a few places. A week ago we could not have imagined such depravity and wilful lawlessness on the streets of the UK in the way we have experienced over the last few nights.

Transfixed on news channels and social media we watch as basic common decency and respect are pushed aside in favour of greed, anarchy and a selfish desire to wield fear in the face of a public and police force that have, as yet, to stop them.

As I'm sure you will be the same, I've watched the news, dissminated the information, and judged those involved guilty of such heanous crimes. I found myself prouncing the judgements and the punishments in favour of heavy-handed retaliation such as baton rounds (plastic bullets) and water cannons. I've agreed with what I've heard and seen from others who offer their own judgements and punishments.

I think, in fairness, we are probably right to make those judgments, based on what we've seen and heard. When we think about people being mocked as they hide in their homes and businesses, see people being openly mugged, and listen to the looters laugh out "I'm not going to stop stealing until I'm caught" we would be right to make the assertion that any force necessary to bring this to a close is acceptable.

Yes, we would be right in making these judgments, wouldn't we?

In the middle of these riots, however, I begin to notice some very worrying parallels. As I watch a news report, where looters are arrogantly walking down the street, carrying the HD television they have just stolen, I begin to think about MY arrogance. Yes, I can be honest and say that it catches me by surprise, but it's undeniable...I am an arrogant and proud man. As I watch with shock at the audacity of the looters to think they have a right to take whatever they want, I am reminded that I am also a very selfish person. Of course it goes without saying that I dont like to think of myself as such...but I'm sad to say that it's true.

In fact, I've yet to see an attitude in any one of the rioters that I dont possess. Shocking as it is, this is simply the case. Of course, I'm not going to break into a shop and steal some goods, but I am saddened to remember that I already knew these character traits were already in me.

Please dont get me wrong. I'm sure that I'm just preaching to myself, or maybe I'm having a mini-revelation that the rest of the world already had. However, what I feel today is of consequence and of the utmost importance to us all.

We have the propencity to point the finger, whether rightly or wrongly and pronounce our judgments on those either in the wrong or in sin (is there a difference). Yet, like myself, we so often neglect to remember the state of our own hearts. 

Genesis 6:5
"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually"
 

God is speaking about you and me here. It's really not nice to think of ourselves this way, but scripture is undeniable about who we are as a people group. God knows the very number of the hairs on our heads, and he knows what our characters are like. He knows what I am like. I cant escape it...try as I might to hide it away or mask it in a veil of righteousness. Even on my BEST day, God says that my best works are like filthy menstrual rags...thats on my BEST day. It's horrible for me to think about this stuff, but I must. I need to remind myself of who I am as a person, not who I fancy myself to be.

I understand at this point that you might want to close down your browser window and go do something a little less heavy, but I implore you to wait for a second longer. The reason I MUST remind myself of what my nature is like, is so that I can appreciate who God is, what he has done and why he has done it. If I neglect to remind myself of how stained my character is, then I cannot appreciate the grace that God has so quickly given me.

Here's something else I can remind myself of. Every single aspect of my dirtied nature...my arrogance, haughtiness, pride, bitterness, anger, resentment, greed, lust, wanton self-appreciation (you get the idea!), Jesus took upon himself when he chose to go to the cross. Every single thing that I do, I naturally do against God and his ways of doing things. My natural self is a person of rebellion, bent on doing my own things my own way. You only have to watch the news at the moment to see this. Rioters and looters doing what they want because no-one is able to stop them. There is no self-restraint....and there is no self-restraint in me. I'm a rebel!

Yet despite this, Jesus looks at me and says "I take your sin upon myself. I pay your debt for you". No, this doesn't fill me with over-exhuberant joy and jubilation, because I simply cant get my head around the implications of what it means for me in its fullest. However, I can accept that it is true.

I'm acutely aware on most days, that there is a difference between the person I want to be and the person I am. The person I want to be is the guy that lives a righteous and holy life, loving God with all his heart and leading the family around the dinner table in prayer. The person I wants to be has it all worked out, spends hours in joyful study of the scriptures and takes time every day to bask in the glory of God as I worship him with all my heart.

However, most days I struggle to get to grips with the truth of the gospel, try as best as I can to hear what God is saying to me through his word and struggle to overcome the many and various sins in my life. No, I'm not the guy I want to be, but I'm the guy that God loves. Simply knowing that means that I'm not done for. I know I'm saved and I know that I'm a work in progress, and it can mean that YOU are a work in progress also.

So, I continue to watch the news of the riots and the looting and remember just what I can be like. I'm trying not to judge too harshly, and hope that God deals with me a little better than I deserve.

Mike