I Am the Problem

Quoting Donald Miller, from his book "Blue Like Jazz":

[A friend of Don's once asked him if he was capable of murder, rape and all the horrific stuff that was going on the Congo. He said "No."]

His friend then said, "I just want to know what makes those guys over there any different from you and me. They are human. We are human. Why are we any better than them, you know?"

Don writes, "If I answered his question by saying yes, I could commit those atrocities, that would make me evil, but if I answered no, it would suggest I believed I am better evolved than some of the men in the Congo. And then I would have some explaining to do."

Later in the book, after much thought and prayer about all of this, he writes:

"...I don't have to watch the evening news to see that the world is bad. I only have to look at myself. I am not browbeating myself here; I am only saying that true change, true life-giving, God-honoring change would have to start with the individual. I was the very problem I had been protesting. I wanted to make a sign that read, 'I AM THE PROBLEM.'"