The Revolt of the Average Person

Lis­ten in on con­ver­sa­tions in cafes, book­stores, gaso­line sta­tions, weight rooms, and ball­games. Peo­ple are more cau­tious about speak­ing their minds than they used to be. They do not want to come across as neg­a­tive or sound polit­i­cally incor­rect, but beneath this social veneer lies a grow­ing sense of frus­tra­tion. Polit­i­cal lead­er­ship eval­u­a­tions at all lev­els of gov­ern­ment are at his­toric lows. The revolt of the aver­age per­son is on the way.
It will not be with torches and pitch­forks. There will be no parades in the streets nor protests in front of gov­ern­ment build­ings. No, this revolt will be with the check­book, the credit card, and the expected level of par­tic­i­pa­tion in rou­tine insti­tu­tional events. Despite all of the social exper­i­ments and manip­u­la­tions posed from the top down, the human heart finds new ways to be free. For all of the intim­i­da­tions that can be expressed through insti­tu­tional and legal avenues, there may be tem­po­rary phys­i­cal con­for­mity, but the soul stands at a dis­tance — unaf­fected.
The story of Jesus is re-experienced in var­i­ous ways through each person’s life. We have our temp­ta­tions. We have our dreams. We have our crosses. Most of all, we have our integrity — our sense of whole­ness. We know when we are being talked down to and used for the per­sonal gains of oth­ers. The agen­das are obvi­ous. No one is fooled. The revolt is on the way.
Sys­tems can take your money or limit some of your behav­ior, but they can never hold your heart. Jesus chose to die, rather than to be forced into los­ing his integrity — over Judas’ actions. In prin­ci­ple, that hap­pens each time a per­son chooses to suf­fer a lit­tle incon­ve­nience or a lifestyle lim­i­ta­tion — rather than play the cul­ture games. We turn off pro­grams. We refuse to attend rigged events. Our money stays in our pock­ets. The com­mon man has power far beyond that of mega-corporations and gov­ern­ments. He has the abil­ity to choose. He can adapt. He can opt for the eter­nal over the tem­po­ral. The Jesus-style revolt can­not be stopped — for it is spir­i­tual — not merely polit­i­cal, social, or economic.