“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…”                                                                                                                                     Philippians 2:3-5

Paul’s admonishment is to encourage his Christian family to watch out for their fellow human beings. We seem to be metamorphicly accelerating into becoming very fragile creatures. We want the life we live to come faster, cleaner, in abundance, without interference from others; and we forget what happens when we’re moving at 100 mph and someone sticks a wall in front of us. The cry of whining response to the restriction of our self-indulgence is so cacophonous that it drowns out the legitimate report of those around us who may really be in need of help. I recall a story of a woman by the name of Catherine Genovese, of New York. Twenty eight year old Kitty, as she was known, was coming home from work in the early morning of March 14, 1964, when she was attacked only 100 feet from her apartment and repeatedly stabbed for more than an hour. During the attack 38 people were witness to it from their apartment windows and doorways. The assailant was scared away twice during the assault, only to return and continue his brutal violation…and no one called the police, no one came out, no one helped. When asked later by police why all spectators were reluctant to lend aid, their replies were varied in detail, but common in theme: self preservation. Though I understand the caution that should be employed when facing dangerous situations, I can’t reconcile the fact of no one notifying authorities. Police say that it’s very likely “Kitty” would still be alive had someone called when the attack first started, but one man claimed that when he realized what was happening, that because he was tired, he went back to bed.

Jesus calls us to a higher standard of altruism towards our fellow man. It baffles me that in an age when virtually nothing can go undetected by someone, that a crime of this magnitude and duration can occur without any involvement by those in witness, and not realize that something is drastically wrong with us. I don’t think this is the “attitude” Paul is referring to in his letter, which by the way, he’s writing while imprisoned, to encourage his brothers who are also suffering persecution.

-Pastor Craig