As a kid, we had one of those old Radiograms sitting in our lounge. I can’t remember the radio ever being used, but I remember playing the records—45s, LPs, and 78s. Some of those records were old and in poor condition, and inevitably, because of surface damage, the needle would slip and a line in the song would get caught in a continuous repeat cycle. It was no mystery…you had a “Stuck Record.” However, if you were lucky, you could move it on by tapping the Radiogram. But the only real option was to manually move the needle on to the next track—I am thankful for YouTube.
Human beings also become stuck records. It doesn’t take much to damage the surface of their thin veneer and cause their train of thought to get caught in a continuous repeat cycle. As much as some might be tempted to tap on their exterior to move them on, it remains that the only real option is to manually move them on to the next subject.
We might sound fearless when we are obsessing about the problems of the world and church alike, but most of it is just annoying noise. As one guilty of trying to solve all the problems of the day by going on about everyone else’s shortcomings, I can claim: “Expert Status.”
Thus, we all need brothers and sisters who are friends enough to know when enough is enough. Someone needs to remind us that our “Stuck Record Criticisms” are actually proof of our Fears, not our Fearlessness.
Whether audibly, or in our heads, we all spend too much time playing the victim. Instead, we would better serve ourselves and others if we gave it over to God and moved on.
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
John Staiger