Ignore Ignorance

“When I tell wicked people they will die because of their sins, you must warn them to turn from their sinful ways. But if you refuse to warn them, you are responsible for their death. If you do warn them, and they keep sinning, they will die because of their sins, and you will be innocent.”
Ezekiel 33:8-9

At first I couldn’t really understand what this passage meant. As anyone may well know, warning people about how their sins would lead them to death would either lead to an argument or just the gesture of shrugging the warning off. Usually, when I know people do the things they shouldn’t, I would just stay away from them. But as I try to really look deeper into the passage and to understand it, I realized that that ignorance is and always will be a sin.

Speak Up

When it comes to committing sin, we all do it, right? So why bother pointing out other people’s sins? Isn’t that wrong? Isn’t that being too  all knowing and righteous?

Well, sometimes, people don’t realize that what they’re doing is wrong. Sometimes they are blinded by their own mindsets that they don’t see the fact that their actions aren’t right. And that’s where we come in. If you see someone throwing a huge pile of garbage in the middle of the road, what do you do? Do you just shrug it off and ignore it? Or do you speak up? That’s what the passage is leading to. Not saying anything would mean that you’re allowing or even supporting the idea of an action. Ignorance won’t make the sin or any mistake go away. You would still end up staring at that big pile of garbage in front of you.

The passage tells us that if we don’t warn people to turn from their sinful ways, we are responsible for their death. Why? Because, if there’s a point where we could have done a difference and we choose not to, would also mean that we performed an act of ignorance. Ignorance is often a sin. Ignoring and refusing even the slightest chance of saving them would make us responsible for their deaths. Ignorance can make people murderers.

When to Give Up

                But of course, there will always be people who will refuse to listen. They are those who no matter what you do or say, would still choose to do the wrong thing. And that’s what you cannot change. You cannot change their actions, their way of thinking, or their choices. But the passage says you can change yours. You can still choose to speak up and warn them about the things in stall for them in the future. But if they still ignore you, their future is no longer your problem. When you’ve done what you can, their doings would be their own responsibilities, not yours.

Conclusion

Don’t let ignorance make you a murderer. Speak up, do what you can, and even go out of your way. These are the souls of our brothers and sisters. When you’ve done absolutely every single thing you can do, then that will be enough. God will do the rest.

Have faith. Ignore ignorance. Help people. Believe. Let go, and let God.