Watching Everything Become Fragile and Rigid at the Same Time

I've followed several threads about the current uproars at Stuebensville and the unfortunate rude emails directed at a singular person that revealed another person's poor thinking and even poorer understanding of the Gospel. Those who haven't followed it, it's not the point of this piece, but it's easy to google.

I concede, I followed, until I realized, it was a form of dark joy. It's fun to blast what we know to be stupid, misguided, foolish, rude, vulgar, insane and ignorant, particularly when it is directed at an individual we know and care about. I followed the blogger and sometimes shared pieces. Something made me pull back. There is a danger of engaging in a sin against charity, even when dealing with those who are uncharitable. It's a dicey thing to discuss.

The lack of kindness and generosity of spirit we receive, often allows us to think, we're justified in an equally angry response, whether the issue is politics, religion, or any other topic of import. The problem with this reflexive response to the words of others (even sinful evil words given without charity or presumption of good faith), is it makes us like the one who attacked us, and that's not the goal in any exchange of anyone who professes themselves to be kind. It's not what Christ instructs us to do either. The goal is to be like Christ to the one who does not see Christ, not in themselves, and not in us.

Turning the other cheek doesn't mean being a chump, but neither does it mean triumphing at our moral superiority of understanding. Being a peace maker, converting hearts requires not doing what would seem justifiable and reasonable in response to hate, in response to rudeness, in response to ignorance, in response to foolishness, in response to injustice. It's so easy to add to the darkness, and think this is deserved darkness but Jesus does not return the insults, He does not return the violence with violence. He offers no words of rebuke to those who in no way are righteous in their acts or words.

With scandal after scandal breaking, with injustice after injustice being exposed, it's easy to get caught up in what feels like righteous wrath at all the blindness, all the foolishness, and all the sins covered up and ignored. In social media, having a feral moment of dark joy is almost reflexive, because we want to defend our friends, pur faith, our values. We want to be on the side of angels, we want to be right and we want to be perceived as such by those friends, those fellow warriors in whatever battle we might find ourselves. We want to draw mental swords and lock in battle, cutting away at all the chaff, but God allows the wheat and chaff in each of our souls to grow up together, the weeding He will do at the end.

The reality is Followers of Christ neither punch up or punch down. They diffuse, they deflect, they respond with the unexpected grace of charity. It's a shock to the soul, like sun bursting through the clouds on a winter day, providing an unexpected shaft of warmth, or a crocus revealing beauty in a drab landscape.

We're to be that shock, but that requires we stop reveling in the lack of warmth, lack of beauty, and lack of wisdom, or celebrating our own coziness in the faith in relation to others' both splinters and planks. We also don't get to quit, wash our hands and go home.

Jesus wanted even the Pharisees to understand, and kept offering them the opportunity if they willed to listen, He came to their dinners knowing they wanted Him there for their own reasons. God invites us knowing we have alternative motives as well. Love breaks through, because it's much more shocking to respond with kindness and mercy, than with vitriol, cleverness and insults especially if when we think the person brought this upon themselves.

It's not easy, because bitterness and outrage is so much more intuitive, so much more reasonable and seemingly right. We might think, then how do we respond? How do we react? What do we do when faced with ignorance, foolishness, waste, cruelty, malice, misguided ideology, blind loyalty, hypocrisy and multiple sins beyond what we would have thought?

We must keep engaging not because it is easy, not because we will win friends (we'll probably lose some), but because we're called to present what we know to be true even if it is rejected.Offer the theology of an alternative perspective with all the love we can muster. Our job is to inform, not convince, and to feed, knowing there will be extra even after we distribute all that we have, even if all we began with were two loaves and five fishes. Our job is to lower the nets where Christ instructs us to, and not to insist that if people ignore Christ, that we can either pull down columns of fire or decide we will no longer engage. We do not get the luxury of not being involved because we are our brothers' keeper. At a time when everything seems both fragile and rigid at the same time, we're to strengthen and bind, to heal and soothe the wounds of the world.

Mercy, even in the face of ignorance, that's what Christ on the Cross offered. Followers of Christ, must do no less

Mercy, even in the face of rejection, that's what Christ on the Cross offered. Followers of Christ, must do no less.

Mercy even if it is not recognized as such, that's what Christ on the Cross offered. Followers of Christ can do no less.