This morning in a training class at Shelter on business writing (3/5/20), we were discussing the difference between subjective and objective pronouns when I made the following observation:
A subjective pronoun is active. It takes initiative. It is proactive. It does something. It is the subject that imposes its will.
An objective pronoun is acted upon. It is passive. It is reactive. Something is done to it. It is the objective that is being imposed upon.
In other words,
I do things;
Things happen to me.
"I" is subjective. It does.
"Me" is objective. It is done in.
It is not surprising that the current "me too" wildfire is in the objective mood. Our preferred pronoun is me. We like focusing on other's obligations and responsibilities and our feelings, thoughts, grievances, etc.. about their shortcomings. "Me" identifies itself as being acted upon, as being objectified, as being the victim of someone else's actions. One of the biggest problems with a generation that is obsessed with "me" is that it is also an obsession with apathy. It is always evaluating others people's actions and its corresponding effects on me. Thus it often manifests itself in the form of criticizing other's actions while reinforcing the victim-hood of the one operated upon.
This is in no way a negation or refutation of the fact that we are regularly sinned against. To the contrary, we are sinned against far more than we realize. But to orient one's self solely around what's been done to you by others is to add another sin to the mix. While the "me's" have a genuine complaint too, my point is that the me's may be guilty of their own sin. No problem is so bad that you can't make it worse. So, to reiterate, it is not my contention that the "me's" have no legitimate beefs with the "I's" out there, but rather my point is that one of the things the current "me too" culture perpetuates is a mindset of "me" which is always reacting to other people's efforts rather than taking initiative. It imagines the world in terms of "me" and sees things happening and assesses them in light of my personal preferences and costs/benefits.
As I said before, the I's do things, the me's have things done to them.
Do you explain your life overall and your current circumstances primarily in terms of things which have happened to you, things over which you had little control and which provide ample excuse as to why things are with you now as they are? Or do you explain your life in terms of responsibility and faults you have made of which you have repented and current struggles with which you are actively engaging in battle?
In one theological sense, we are all passive when compared to God. He is masculine. He initiates, we respond. In that sense, we are all reactive. We are receiving good or bad from Him and responding. So in that sense, we should all see ourselves in terms of "me." In another sense, however, we ought to see our lives in terms of "I" as moral agents God has commissioned to govern first ourselves and then any for whom He grants us the privilege to take responsibility (i.e. spouses, children, disciples, direct reports, staff, etc...)
So here's to seeing ourselves as "me's" before God in acknowledging Him as the primary Actor and seeing our responsibility as "I's" to respond in obedience.
