I grew up with a speech impediment, and I went to speech
therapy through the sixth grade. As you can imagine, I was ridiculed regularly.
I remember a little boy in kindergarten who punched me in the stomach,
e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y. I remember being the object of scorn by the biggest girl in my
first grade class. By fifth grade, my teacher got into the act. She had me
stand in front of the class to demonstrate what I was learning in speech
therapy. Trust me, if you had to "roar like a lion" to pronounce the
letter "r," standing in front of the class is the last thing you'd
want to do. (Lest you think I am being a bit hard on my teacher, this teacher
also put tacks on the seats of students, who went to the restroom, and laughed
at students when they sat on them.) I do not recite all of this to solicit
sympathy. That water flowed under the bridge a long time ago. But, I would like
to pose a few questions: What is it in the hearts of five year olds and six
year olds (or a 30 something year old teacher for that matter) that makes them
disdain those who are different (maybe even inferior)? Why does the stronger
student, coworker, or spouse choose to bully and not protect? Theology
has a term for it. It is called total depravity. Total depravity does not mean
that everyone is as absolutely bad as they could be. It means that sin has
affected every area of our being. Think about it for a moment: Do we have to
teach our children to share, or to be selfish--to lie or to tell the truth? Our
inclination is toward the dark side, and it is a struggle to be good. It is
much easier to give into temptation than to fight it. Spouses do not stay
faithful by taking the path of least resistance. Employees do not stay honest
without striving to do so. Friends do not forgive without intentionality.
Children are not obedient by happenstance. The good news is Theology has an
answer to this problem of total depravity, and it is in the Soteriology section
of Systematic Theology! More about that--another time!
