The Need to Be First

I think one thing that our society has wrong is the uncontrollable need to be first.  Just look at Texas drivers; they may actually want to drive 10 mph slower than you, but they will pass you first so that they can be in front.  It is a "me first" society.  People don't seem to care who they inconvenience or even endanger as long as they get what they want.  I saw two completely unrelated things today that exhibited this.

First, a father pulled through a cross walk where a teacher had traffic stopped because children were crossing.  He didn't care that he almost hit the teacher or the children.  He just wanted to drop his own kid off in front of the cross walk so he wouldn't have to wait the ten seconds it would take for the kids to finish crossing after his kid got out of his car.

Second, and definitely more bizarre, a Kroger shopper cut off the tops of two pineapples  before she put them in her car, leaving the tops just lying on the ground by her car as she pulled away.  I guess it was too much to ask for her to throw them in her trash at home, in the trash can by where she returned her cart, or hey even planting them.  I guess she is not as bad as the guy I saw last week, because at least pineapple tops are biodegradable.  There was a guy who bought half a dozen bags of ice and several 24 packs of beer.  He immediately fills the cooler in the back of his pickup truck, leaving the trash and his basket in the space next to him.  The basket return with its trash can was two spaces away.  It would have been way too hard to walk the 12 feet to get to them...

Both of these instances show the mind set that "whatever I want takes precedence over anyone or anything else."  We were NOT created with the right to be first.  In fact this goes against our creation.

Even celebrities have noticed this trend.  They have founded a site called "I Am Second" helping people try to stop thinking of themselves first.  That is all well and good, but the saying actually goes I am THIRD, not second.  It is based on the Biblical passage where the Pharisees ask Jesus what are the two greatest commandments.  His answer is Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.  So, saying "I am third" means that you put God first, the needs of your neighbor (everyone else) second, and then think about what you want.  I don't know whether the "I Am Second" people are putting themselves above God or their neighbors.  Either way they are missing something.

I have always tried to live by the two greatest commandments to love God and neighbor.  If you truly try to love someone you will treat them properly.  (Or to quote the Golden Rule, treat them as you would like to be treated.) 

I know this is hard.  There are going to be people that make you late.  There are going to be phone calls you don't want to miss while you are driving.  There are going to be times when doing the right thing is inconvienient.  But as Christians we were not promised that being a disciple would be easy.  I think it will make the world a better place, though...