The Church of Perpetual Indignation

I love my brothers and sisters in the Lord, every one. I do. And among those with whom I am personally acquainted, I like almost all of them. Ask me why I love them and I can rattle off more reasons in three minutes than ten people’s toes and fingers. My Christian family has been good to me for over 50 years, creating in me a hunger and thirst for righteousness, instilling biblical literacy, calling me out when I needed it, holding me close when I didn’t deserve it, forgiving me when I failed, then forgiving again. And sometimes again. I wanted to begin by affirming my love for us because I’m probably going to offend someone with this post.

But that will be a familiar feeling because a lot of us Christians pretty much live in a constant state of being offended. I don’t know if there’s something in the baptistery water that increases sensitivity or if consuming small doses of Welch’s Grape Juice over a long period of time thins the skin from the inside out. But for cryin’ out loud, it’s like we all placed membership at the Church of Perpetual Indignation.

Soon, we’ll hear the annual call to boycott stores where they say, “Happy Holidays,” instead of “Merry Christmas.” Because it just makes so much sense to launch a local economic jihad based on how a 20-something year old clerk working part-time in housewares does or does not acknowledge the holiday.  In a world where people are getting chopped up, shot down, crucified or burned at the stake because of their faith, is that really where we want to pitch the battle? Does a movie that makes fun of our faith or an atheist’s smart-alecky bumper sticker even register on the persecution Richter scale? No. They do not.

“Yes,” you demur, “but there are some things that are just offensive and need to be called out.” I agree. There are tons of things in our culture that are offensive. Abortion. Human trafficking. Child abuse. Spousal abuse. People locked in generational poverty. Drug and alcohol addictions. Pornography. There is a long list of horrible things out there in the world (and, more than we’d like to admit, in the church). In terms of causes for offense, it is absolutely a target rich environment.

Which is why we need to be more choosey with our outrage. First, while it is true that all sins are equal in the sense that any sin separates us from God, it is not true that all sins have equal consequences. Having considerable experience with various transgressions, I can affirm that using a golf word when an idiot cuts you off in traffic does not have the same life-altering effect as, say, marital infidelity. Perhaps we would be wise to save our indignation for the truly egregious iniquities.

Second, if the unregenerate world around us declines to live up to the standards we hold sacred, it’s doing exactly what God said it would do. He’s not surprised when people do what is right in their own eyes. He actually wrote a book about it, ironically titled Judges. Why should we be shocked if the darkness is, in fact, dark? That makes the light shine all the brighter.

Speaking of coming out from among them and being different, have you noticed how easily offended everybody is these days? You can’t get ten steps out your door before someone accuses you of micro-aggressing them. We are now living in a culture that is continually upset, offended, snubbed and wounded. Umbrage is as common as unused gym memberships and being a victim is the new status symbol. So maybe not getting bent out of shape is the new way of letting our little lights shine.

But the most compelling reason for dialing down the indignation is this; it’s just hard to tell someone the good news while wearing your angry face. If the goal is to let everybody know what we’re against, then by all means, fuss up a storm. But if we’re trying to show the world a different way, a better way, The Way, then maybe what we need is a more gracious, graceful approach. If God didn’t send Jesus into the world to condemn it, I’m guessing Jesus didn’t send us into the world for that purpose either.