Control in the Hood

Some people (I believe) live under the impression that if you are 'grown up' or an 'adult' you should not be doing childish things. In my personal opinion this is not the case - we still need to have fun and sometimes the simplest things, things which we might call 'childish' are the best! The difference, I believe, is that when you are 'grown up' you know when you are acting childish  and you also know when it is inappropriate to act in such a way (having control of our actions).

 

This is all well and good, however only really looks at one use of the term 'grown up' or 'adult'. So, for a comparison, lets also look at another way in which this term is used which does not fit with the above description. The first thing which comes to mind (due to a recent conversation) is the concern over children entering 'adulthood' or exiting 'childhood' at younger ages.

 

In this sense the term 'adulthood' is talking not about the persons maturity, reasoning, or overall unstanding but rather their change in behaviour from childhood as related to exposure to what is considered 'adult' things. Drugs, violence, sex, crime, relationships, work, pride, anger, death, sickness, etc... all in their more full or complete forms as opposed to the snippets which children normally receive and are built upon over time. In this sense adulthood is more of an alternate teenage-hood. Often when this is the case these children have a different type of control on their actions (which is sometimes simply no control).

 

While looking at a passage in Mark this evening, one of the verses we looked at was "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Now when reading the Bible, it is always best to read everything in context understanding what else is happening, and not just taking a verse on its own - and I encourage you to do that (chapter 14) however just now I will briefly just mention one of the things we were talking about.

 

We are taught in this world of ours that to be an adult, to be a member of society often is about control. Self control is an admirable virtue. Some of us we think are pretty good at this, being a master of ourselves. However, here we read that we are weak! That no matter how hard we try we can never be so in control that our spirit and our actions match up (this is for followers of Christ).

 

I'm sorry if that doesn't make a lot of sense. I feel like I am not doing a very good job of articulating myself this evening. If something doesn't make sense, or needs clarification - please just ask, I'm sure others will have the same question as well and would appreciate it.

 

God Bless