Supporting vs. Accusing

I was enjoying some down time today reading the news, and came across an article about the Focus on the Family Superbowl ad featuring Tim and Pam Tebow. In the ad, Pam Tebow is telling the story of her decision 23 years ago to continue a risky pregnancy against the advice of her doctors. She says that Tim almost didn’t make it into this world. Tim enters the scene, playfully, by tackling his mom. He then stands up with her, hugs her, and tells her he loves her too. It was a short and sweet ad, celebrating family.

The article I was reading included this statement from a woman’s advocacy group about the Tebow ad:

The Women's Media Center, which had objected to Focus on the Family advertising in the Super Bowl, said it was expecting a "benign" ad but not the humor. But the group's president, Jehmu Greene, said the tackle showed an undercurrent of violence against women.

Wow. You’re kidding, right? I wonder how Ms. Greene felt about Betty White being tackled in the Snickers ad.

Sometimes when we advocate for a particular cause, we become so self-absorbed we can’t tolerate anyone who has a different perspective. So we attack them. It reminds me of the story in the Matthew 12 when Jesus heals somebody on the Sabbath and is criticized for doing so because it is the Sabbath. In Matthew 12:10 is says “Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they [the Pharisees] asked him. ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’” But this is what we do when we’re desperately trying to hold onto something that gives us a sense of security. Because we feel threatened by an opposing viewpoint, we look for a reason, any reason, to be right, and for the other person to be wrong.

While I think the comment Ms Green made in the article regarding the commercial is ludicrous, it has given me something to think about for the next several days (weeks or years?). Where am I doing this myself? And what am I trying to hang onto using this strategy? Today, just about every decision we make – whether about educating our children (charter, private, home-school, or public), career (working outside the home, leaving work to raise children, choosing daycare), or even the kind of car we drive (SUV, hybrid, old, new) - somebody is standing by to give us advice on how to do it "right". But what’s best for one family may not be best for another. My hope is that I will be the kind of person who supports others in their choices, rather than behave like a Pharisee, looking for a reason to accuse.