Wow… bad move.

You ever hear someone tell a story or read a post somewhere online—one in which the teller recounts a great triumph in some difficult situation? “The man” tried to stick it to me, but I stuck it to “the man!” Or She tried to tell me I couldn’t, but I did! You ever read one of those stories and think, “Wow… you really messed that up,” or worse? I did the other day.

I read a story someone I know tangentially wrote about their triumph in a situation where they were accused of doing something that they did… but they did unintentionally. The accuser was… rude… to say the least. That person? They stood up for themselves and stuck it to that accuser. Let me just say here that this was something mild and really not worth fighting over at all. The fact that not one but two people got riled up in the situation was, in my opinion, ridiculous. But I digress.

I read this person’s story of ‘triumph’ skeptically. It was an inter-cultural situation, and it took place in a place and culture I don’t understand very well. Despite that fact, after reading the story, all I could think was “Wow. You really messed that up. You messed it up, and you’re proud of yourself. Brilliant.”

So what do we do when we see someone patting themselves on the back, rejoicing in their perceived triumph, and really they just messed it all up?

I debated saying something, but I stopped myself half way through the first sentence in my head. I knew it wasn’t the course to take in this situation. Like I said, I barely know the person, and I’m not convinced I should say anything. But in the back of my mind I wonder… Should we tell people what we really think when the situation appears to be not exactly what they think it is?

I think the deeper question here is, when do we say something and when do we keep still? There doesn’t seem to be a real answer to that… at least from my perspective. The Spirit moves in mysterious ways. Sometimes He asks us to speak, and sometimes He asks us to be still. And there’s no telling which He’s asking someone else to do, either. But sometimes when I see every comment following a story like that all cheering the person on—all telling him what a great job he did and how that other guy was such a jerk (for standing up for himself, mind you, albeit rudely), it just leaves me feeling unsettled.