Addicted to Rage
Have you noticed how difficult it is to go on social media or watch television without seeing some kind of rage? It seems like we are becoming addicted to rage.
In the past few days we have seen a couple devastating shootings. We have seen an assault on an Asian-American in NYC who was on her way to church. We have seen a young musician make satanic themed tennis shoes with a drop of blood included. 666 pairs were made.
Following each of these events, there was outrage on social media and in the news. Increasingly I am also seeing outrage over the nature and quality of the outrage expressed when compared to the outrage expressed over other events. For example…
Bob gets mad at event A and goes on social media about his displeasure.
Bob says little to nothing about event B.
George says little to nothing about event A but is mad about event B.
George and Bob now don’t like each other because the other did not express the right amount of rage directed toward the right event.
I think we are becoming addicted to rage.
Consider the life of Jesus for a moment. Don’t believe for a moment that we have more injustice than what he encountered. However, he reserved his rage for the exceptional circumstance. In fact, we only see him angry on two occasions. What can we learn from Jesus?
Make rage rare. Every event in the media does not require your rage. You don’t have to make a statement on every issue the media covers. If rage is common, you might want to reevaluate your passions.
Make loving people a priority. The musician who made the satanic shoes does not make me mad. My heart breaks over his story. Jesus died for his sins and loves that young man desperately but that is not the message he heard growing up. He heard, “Jesus hates you.” and now he hates Jesus and the church. Let’s stop the next hate-filled person from becoming a reality by loving them while they are kids and teenagers.
Pray that God makes the log in your own eye more clear than the speck in someone else’s eye. I am too busy trying to love my neighbors and get the log out of my own eye to spend time getting mad at what other people are doing or not doing.
Learn from the lost. Do you know what people outside the church are saying about church people these days? If you don’t, the news isn’t good. We need to stop making loving people outside the church such hard work and instead fall in love with the people God is drawing close to himself. We need to humble ourselves and learn from folks who have not yet embraced Jesus.
I wish the stuff I am sharing was easy. The truth is that rage is easy. Following Jesus is tough. It is my prayer that God will give me wisdom to know what few things deserve my rage and to spend the rest of my time on more productive matters.