An idea for perceiving a problem and its solution can make plenty of sense, but if the idea and solution are applied to the wrong situation, even a great solution can have a bad effect.
Consider what is going on at this birthday party.
Christians,
In trying to best understand and respond to social situations we come across, it is important to be careful not to misidentify one situation for another that looks somewhat like it because that can lead to applying a solution that has the opposite effect of what is needed. It can result in the wrong people being hurt and the wrong people being supported. One way this can happen is when one situation looks like one we have heard about before and we apply a solution that we have heard associated with that situation. Consider what is going on at this birthday party.
At a birthday party for young girls and boys, a boy thinks it is funny to scream in the ear of the birthday girl’s great grandmother. The elderly woman politely asks him to stop, but the boy continues to do it every few minutes. She isn't able to do much more herself, being very elderly, shy, and feeling unusually weak because of all the activity going on. Coming in from the outdoors side of the party, one of the mothers notices what is happening and firmly tells the boy to stop. However, another parent then intervenes. “Leave him alone! The kids are just having fun,” shouts another mother who is watching from across the room. That woman had the idea in her mind of children being controlled too strictly and unfairly.
It is true that children are controlled too strictly at times. It isn’t that idea itself that is wrong. However, that idea was misfitted to this situation. As a result, the solution that went with the idea allowed the boy to continue upsetting the elderly woman. In other words, the solution only served to hurt the person who really needed help.