I personally don't like to hear talk about how immoral and anti-Christian the world is becoming. I don't deny that many of the criticisms are valid or that a personal unwillingness of mine to face up to uncomfortable truths may be involved. But what stirs at least as much discomfort on my part is that the typical Christian social reformer rarely mentions loving one's enemies, let alone turning the other cheek or watching for one's own blind spots. Some attack the opposition with a viciousness that makes counteraccusations of hate speech all too understandable. One wonders if the campaign to bring the Bible back into public schools would allow for a history class pointing out that serious Christians once used the Scriptures to argue for slavery and segregation.
People still quote the Bible out of context to justify themselves--and more than one person has noted that of the seven deadly sins, anger is the one we try to justify most often. Now, anger isn't sinful if it involves indignation against true evil; it is a sin when based on a belief that we're too important to be subject to inconvenience. An appointment is fifteen minutes late? How dare he mess up your schedule! Someone contradicts you with a sneer? How dare she put you down! Can't find the job you want? It becomes all too easy to listen to malcontents who claim the economy would be perfect without those foreigners in the market--or that employers are just prejudiced against Christians.
While nothing in the Bible forbids taking a blatant injustice to court (but note Paul's admonition in 1 Cor. 6:1-8 that Christian-to-Christian disputes are best settled within the church) or fighting off a direct attack, a careful reading of the Scriptures would indicate that in the interest of love and compassion for one's fellow humans, counterattack should be a last resort.
For too many Christians, it's the first.
We live in a world of violence,
Where the answer to every blow
Is to strike back, and even harder:
"That's the only language they know."
We see nations fighting each other;
They all claim to stand for what's right:
Though they kill and drop bombs at random,
It's all justified in their sight.
People lash out against mistreatment--
Which may be in their minds alone--
And claim crushing the last oppressor
Is where seeds of true peace are sown.
And hate is not only directed
To the stranger or foreign foe:
It can grow in our hearts toward a brother
Or toward anyone we may know.
But it brings neither peace nor justice
Just to "punish the ones who sin,"
For we all have hearts tainted with evil--
The dividing line runs within.
And if we strike back, when wounded,
Only at the offenders we see,
We forgot it is non-human forces
Who are truly the enemy.
Let us not shun our Lord's own teaching
That submission is our true strength,
And that true peace begins within us,
Where true change can take place at length.
We as Christians are Heaven's soldiers,
And our swords are forged strong through prayer,
For true victory over evil
Has its only beginning there.
Let us put aside selfish anger
And the urge to despise and hate,
So we all can grow strong as warriors
In a cause that is pure and great,
Living lives based in humble mercy
And in eagerness to forgive,
Standing firm against Satan's army
As we live as our Lord would live.
Then our love may win others over
Without force that is fueled by rage,
And the way of our Christ spread outward
Till the day God turns earth's last page!
Showing posts with label anger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anger. Show all posts
Friday, September 10, 2010
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
There's a Hill outside of the City
I woke this morning to the radio news announcing a survey: "Are you praying to God to get you through these tough economic times?"--and this wasn't a religious station, either. When "tough times" are the subject of every conversation, the words "prayer" and "God" are mentioned considerably more often than when times are good.
Not everyone, of course, turns to God for help in hard circumstances. Some people prefer to shut their eyes and pretend nothing is really wrong, that "things are bound to work out somehow [without my having to help by changing anything in my own life]." Some people slide into depression and convince themselves that everything is hopeless anyway; others sulk because life isn't giving them what they think they deserve. And so many adopt the "borrowed trouble" tactic--a fearful obsession with what might happen, a loan that exacts horrendous interest rates physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually--that worrying sometimes seems to be America's national pastime.
None of these approaches necessarily ignore God completely--it's easy enough to spiritualize any of them, to assume that "God never lets churchgoers get sick or lose their money" or to live in fear that God's ideas of what we need might not match our own. And it's as easy to get disgusted with God as with blind luck. The world is full of people who have adopted the slogan, "If God exists, He must not care about us too much, or He never would let so many horrible things happen."
Ironically, the ultimate proof that God does care lies in the most horrible thing He ever let happen--in something He in fact planned for. When circumstances tempt us to doubt that God loves us, it's time to take our eyes off those circumstances--off ourselves and our own expectations and "wants"--and look again at the Cross of Christ. Not as a pretty ornament or a sanitized picture in a Bible storybook, but in all its blood and dirt, all its sweat and agony and humiliation. That was what God was willing to go through so we could have, for ultimate eternity, something far better than the health and wealth we crave on earth.
When we remember that, just let us try to complain about our own temporary problems.
There's a hill outside of the city,
There's three crosses upon that hill,
There's a Man hanging on the center cross
And He knows this is all God's will.
There's nails through His wrists and His ankles,
There's a crown of thorns on His head,
There's tears in His eyes of love and pain
And as thick as His blood they are shed.
There's a woman crying beneath Him,
There's a man with a tortured soul,
There's a crowd that watches in fear and awe
As the terrible drama unfolds.
There's a cry of death from the hilltop,
There's a shadow over the land,
There's a victory won through that defeat
That so few can understand.
Not everyone, of course, turns to God for help in hard circumstances. Some people prefer to shut their eyes and pretend nothing is really wrong, that "things are bound to work out somehow [without my having to help by changing anything in my own life]." Some people slide into depression and convince themselves that everything is hopeless anyway; others sulk because life isn't giving them what they think they deserve. And so many adopt the "borrowed trouble" tactic--a fearful obsession with what might happen, a loan that exacts horrendous interest rates physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually--that worrying sometimes seems to be America's national pastime.
None of these approaches necessarily ignore God completely--it's easy enough to spiritualize any of them, to assume that "God never lets churchgoers get sick or lose their money" or to live in fear that God's ideas of what we need might not match our own. And it's as easy to get disgusted with God as with blind luck. The world is full of people who have adopted the slogan, "If God exists, He must not care about us too much, or He never would let so many horrible things happen."
Ironically, the ultimate proof that God does care lies in the most horrible thing He ever let happen--in something He in fact planned for. When circumstances tempt us to doubt that God loves us, it's time to take our eyes off those circumstances--off ourselves and our own expectations and "wants"--and look again at the Cross of Christ. Not as a pretty ornament or a sanitized picture in a Bible storybook, but in all its blood and dirt, all its sweat and agony and humiliation. That was what God was willing to go through so we could have, for ultimate eternity, something far better than the health and wealth we crave on earth.
When we remember that, just let us try to complain about our own temporary problems.
There's a hill outside of the city,
There's three crosses upon that hill,
There's a Man hanging on the center cross
And He knows this is all God's will.
There's nails through His wrists and His ankles,
There's a crown of thorns on His head,
There's tears in His eyes of love and pain
And as thick as His blood they are shed.
There's a woman crying beneath Him,
There's a man with a tortured soul,
There's a crowd that watches in fear and awe
As the terrible drama unfolds.
There's a cry of death from the hilltop,
There's a shadow over the land,
There's a victory won through that defeat
That so few can understand.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The Sins of the Mind
Anyone who says, "I've never done anything really wrong," should reread Jesus's words from Mt. 5:21-22, 27-28:
"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.... You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (NIV).
While feeling the attractions of temptation isn't sinful in itself, we slip into sin the moment we stop to dwell on ideas about how much fun it would be to do something we know is wrong--even if we don't actually follow through physically. We don't even have to go as far as dreaming of personally committing sin; delighting in the idea of someone coming to harm by sheer chance is along the same lines as wishing we dared do the harm ourselves.
Sometimes we hear from secular psychologists that thinking ugly thoughts can't really do any harm, that it may even serve as a catharsis to keep us from actually turning violent. Probably most of the pious, self-righteous people who gave Jesus so much trouble thought along the same lines. The truth is that anger and lust, whether acted out or not, perpetuate themselves. Once we start resenting people and wishing something would happen to get them out of our lives permanently, our fantasies get uglier and uglier until we think nothing of delighting in the prospect of their early deaths. (I'm ashamed to admit I know this from personal experience.) If resentment-turned-hatred remains unchecked, it can easily progress to the point where it spills out, probably not in literal murder, but in hurtful words, backbiting gossip, even physical violence--sometimes directed at the actual subject of our anger, sometimes at innocent scapegoats.
Notice that I said, "probably not in literal murder." There are people who have let things go that far. Jesus's religious enemies did. They were so angry at this upstart preacher who told them they were no better than common sinners, that they wound up bullying the local governor into ordering His execution--and then they taunted Him as He hung on a cross gasping for breath.
If men who went out of their way to follow the letter of Old Testament Law could sink so low, who are we to say that our sinful thoughts don't really matter?
The sins of the hand are quickly condemned,
As they show for the world to see;
But the sins of the mind are a subtler kind,
And are found more abundantly.
You respectful souls who take pride in self,
Know the sins of the hand are fed
By the sins of the mind, as the fruit grows ripe--
So take heed of each thought in your head!
The sins of the eye draw shaking of heads
From the pious within the crowd;
But the sins of the heart are where eye-sins start,
Yet we think that the first are allowed.
But our Lord said all those who dream of sin
Are as guilty within God's sight
As the ones who then actually do the act--
So flee lust like a beast in the night!
The sins of the mind are the seeds that sire
Every sin that the world can see,
And the depths of the heart are where all wrongs start--
So keep all that's inside you free
From the things that lure you to outer sin,
And fill up all your heart and mind
With the Word of the Lord and the Spirit's grace:
Think on things of the purest kind!
"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.... You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (NIV).
While feeling the attractions of temptation isn't sinful in itself, we slip into sin the moment we stop to dwell on ideas about how much fun it would be to do something we know is wrong--even if we don't actually follow through physically. We don't even have to go as far as dreaming of personally committing sin; delighting in the idea of someone coming to harm by sheer chance is along the same lines as wishing we dared do the harm ourselves.
Sometimes we hear from secular psychologists that thinking ugly thoughts can't really do any harm, that it may even serve as a catharsis to keep us from actually turning violent. Probably most of the pious, self-righteous people who gave Jesus so much trouble thought along the same lines. The truth is that anger and lust, whether acted out or not, perpetuate themselves. Once we start resenting people and wishing something would happen to get them out of our lives permanently, our fantasies get uglier and uglier until we think nothing of delighting in the prospect of their early deaths. (I'm ashamed to admit I know this from personal experience.) If resentment-turned-hatred remains unchecked, it can easily progress to the point where it spills out, probably not in literal murder, but in hurtful words, backbiting gossip, even physical violence--sometimes directed at the actual subject of our anger, sometimes at innocent scapegoats.
Notice that I said, "probably not in literal murder." There are people who have let things go that far. Jesus's religious enemies did. They were so angry at this upstart preacher who told them they were no better than common sinners, that they wound up bullying the local governor into ordering His execution--and then they taunted Him as He hung on a cross gasping for breath.
If men who went out of their way to follow the letter of Old Testament Law could sink so low, who are we to say that our sinful thoughts don't really matter?
The sins of the hand are quickly condemned,
As they show for the world to see;
But the sins of the mind are a subtler kind,
And are found more abundantly.
You respectful souls who take pride in self,
Know the sins of the hand are fed
By the sins of the mind, as the fruit grows ripe--
So take heed of each thought in your head!
The sins of the eye draw shaking of heads
From the pious within the crowd;
But the sins of the heart are where eye-sins start,
Yet we think that the first are allowed.
But our Lord said all those who dream of sin
Are as guilty within God's sight
As the ones who then actually do the act--
So flee lust like a beast in the night!
The sins of the mind are the seeds that sire
Every sin that the world can see,
And the depths of the heart are where all wrongs start--
So keep all that's inside you free
From the things that lure you to outer sin,
And fill up all your heart and mind
With the Word of the Lord and the Spirit's grace:
Think on things of the purest kind!
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