By Andrea Guachalla
Exactly two months ago news came out from Germany that two 13 year-old girls had violently beaten up a 14 year-old girl in plain daylight on a train station. Though one would expect that the perpetrators were ashamed and hid from police afterwards, what actually happened is that a third person recorded the fact and posted it on social media.
I don’t advise you to look for the video even if it’s just out of curiosity. But I will tell you this about it: it is gut-wrenching. The girls involved in the crime including the one recording are heard laughing while the crime is being perpetrated and the other girl lies on the floor almost unconscious.
Everything about this is horrifying and sickening. Evil little girls proud of victimizing a girl who can’t defend herself against them. Which world are we living in? What is wrong with these kids?
Since the news came out several commentators and analysts have tried to give an explanation on this antisocial behavior. Some have achieved to do so. But something else regarding this event was what caught most of the attention:
Nobody helped.
The crime took place in plain daylight in a train station where many people were passing by. From elderly people, to adults and children, many witnessed the violent attack, and did absolutely nothing to stop it.
Perhaps I’m being too harsh, but I believe that worse than having committed the crime, is to have witnessed it and to have done nothing to stop it.
You might likely disagree with me on that, but let me say this before you do: in the mind of those young girls they were doing nothing wrong, just having fun. They will still be held accountable for their actions if not in their lifetime, when they see God face to face, but the thing is they were not ashamed of it when they were committing the crime. On the other hand, all the witnesses who stood there and stared knew something very wrong was taking place: A girl could have been killed right in front of them. And they did nothing about it.
Let’s not even mention the fact that these were girls, GIRLS, who could have been stopped by any adult.
A newspaper article I read about this explains that the lack of reaction from the witnesses could be explained by what is known as the “bystander effect”. This is a social theory that claims that individuals might be less likely to react when faced with a need if other people are present, because they believe someone else will do something. As a result nobody reacts, they just stare.
Now, whether this theory can be used to explain what happened in this criminal event or not, the truth is that, if you are a person with any sense of morality, you are probably condemning the lack of reaction from the adults who were present. But before you judge them too harshly, let’s answer this question first.
When was the last time you saw a need and didn’t respond to it?
I don’t even need to think much about my own response to this. It was two months ago. Around the same time that that crime took place.
I was sitting in the waiting room of a hospital with my mother. She was busy knitting, I was busy reading when suddenly a woman carrying a little boy in her arms appeared. He seemed to be in pain and not completely conscious. The woman gave the child to a nurse, and gave him a reassuring smile. Then she sat a few seats away from me and started sobbing as soon as the nurse and who seemed to be her son were out of view.
I froze.
Something within me told me that I should go and ask her if she was Ok. And not only did something within tell me I should approach her, I just KNEW I had to. But… I was busy reading… And besides… What if the woman wouldn’t appreciate a stranger approaching her in a sensitive moment? Immediately a thought came to my mind that I would definitely like to be left alone if I was crying in a public place.
Not even 5 seconds had passed since the woman sat, and I had already found an excuse not to be of service to her. I hadn’t even finished my thought when I saw my mother quickly leave her knitting, stand up and approach the woman asking her what had happened to her boy.
In between sobs the woman explained to my mother what had happened, and then they had a long conversation. I mean, they even talked about religion and everything!
While they were talking I realized that the woman was definitely not angry for having a stranger approach her and ask personal questions. And so I had to conclude that I am a selfish person who just didn’t want to help someone in need.
“What is wrong with me?” I thought. I’m grateful my mother didn’t even give it a second thought and just went there to comfort her.
Now that you know how I failed to respond to someone’s needs, think to yourself when was the last time you saw someone who needed help and you excused yourself and were indifferent instead. If you are self-aware it won’t take you too long to find a situation where you were the apathetic bystander.
Are you a bystander or a servant?
When I read this news about the girls who beat up this other one, and how nobody did anything to protect her, I immediately thought to myself that I am different, that given the situation I would have jumped out there and stopped the beating, I would have served justice. But… That would be hypocritical, wouldn’t it?
We like to think highly of ourselves because we are proud. But we need to realize that we are, most often than not, the indifferent bystanders who are not willing to go out of their comfort zones for the sake of others. We need to realize that we would have been the passive witnesses who would have let a girl be killed.
Coming to that realization should prompt us to approach God in repentance and ask him to give us a heart that truly seeks justice, and the good of others before our own. We should take the time to study God’s Word and be led by what He teaches. We should be so invested in serving God that when we are faced with these types of situations we don’t even dare to think of putting our comfort over someone else’s well being.
God has called me and you to love our neighbors, and even our enemies. And He gave us the best example of this: Christ, who came to serve, not to be served, and to die for his enemies not to find excuses not to serve others.
So next time you see a person who is in need, either urgent or not, and you can meet their need: Just do it! Don’t wait for others to do something, don’t overthink, don’t look for excuses not to serve! JUST DO IT: be a servant, not a bystander!
