There is a simple need that we all hunger for deep down inside. It is the need to be right. The very best of us just need to be right, the worst of us need to be “more” right than someone else.
It’s super confusing though, because we define right in lots of different ways. I mean there is football guy who knows the stats and knows who is likely to win the next game… I think that would be the super bowl. Football right guy is gonna make you feel like an idiot if you aren’t as right as football guy.
Then of course, we all know political guy. Political guy has been annoyingly loud lately about pretty much everything coming from Washington DC and the area around it. He is right about Supreme Court and Senate stuff. And he truly either hates or loves whatever president is ruling at the moment. And unless you’ve spent the last decade in a coma, I don’t I need to tell you how much of an absolute moron you are if you don’t agree with political guy.
Of course let’s not forget human rights guy. He knows exactly what needs to happen for a completely free and fair society. And if you don’t agree with human rights guy you’re not simply a moron, you are a racist, bigoted piece of garbage.
My favorite Mr. Right is the guy who is offended on behalf of people who aren’t offended. You know the white, middle class guy very capable and privileged who is offended on behalf of other people when something comes up that, well… he… he “just can’t even.”
What I have been realizing lately is that this tendency, this need to be right is something each of us carries inside of our broken hearts. We may not be any of those guys that I have mentioned, though believe me, we all know we are right not to be those guys. Right?
We need to be right when our kids tells us we hurt their feelings.
We need to be right when it’s not our turn to clean the kitchen.
We need to be right when we simply don’t want to go that movie on Friday night.
We need to be right when a co-worker tells us we messed up on a project.
Our fragile hearts simply cannot tolerate not being Mr. (or Mrs. or Miss) Right. We need to prove our worth and our worth will validate our existence and make us acceptable to others. We pick millions of ways of accomplishing that worth and getting that acceptance. But it comes from the same heart. Whether you are protesting abortion on the capital grounds or marching for transgender rights, there is a part of you deep down that knows you are validated because of these external actions that prove you are more right than the other guy.
There is another way to be right. And it will ease so many of the tensions we experience and rest our weary hearts.
There is an old saying I think. Pretty sure I didn’t make this up, but I truly can’t say for sure where it originates or even if I heard it someplace else. It’s so basic and so simple that someone else has to have said before. And it’s so simple and so basic that it is bound to upset some of us and others of us will forget about it as soon as we click away.
Jesus is right so we don’t have to be.
That’s right. That’s all there is to it. The basic idea is, you’re already wrong. Sure, maybe you are right about that one thing. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. But Jesus is always right and he accepts us when we are wrong.
You don’t have to perfect yourself to death. No need to argue about your opinion because convincing that other person (as if that’s really gonna happen anyway) won’t make you more right. No need to justify that time you dropped that ball at the office. We all get it wrong sometimes. Maybe that was one of those times for you. It’s cool. Jesus gets it right every time.
There is one other thing that helps. You have dignity. And it’s not rooted in your opinions, your honors, or your ability to google the latest stats on your thing. You won’t find dignity at the end of your sexual orientation. Your opponent who finally agrees with whatever you say won’t give it to you.
Your dignity comes from your personhood. Period. Genesis calls it the image of God. We all have it.
Even Mr. Right.