In his recent State of the City Address, our Mayor mentioned that auto accidents were up 35% in our city over the previous year. Jokingly, he said that it could be that people forgot how to drive during the lockdown.
We really don’t know all the reasons, but it seems we’re all a little less patient, more easily angered, and much more willing to let everyone know about it.
Rage has become the new celebrated virtue in the public square. Whether on the highway, social media, political platforms, or even among people of faith, we’ve given ourselves permission to vent our frustrations.
But there’s a dark side to all of this freedom of expression. Something about rage appeals to our basest nature, entertains us, and prompts us to cheer. We often resonate with some aspect of the ranter’s cause, which contains just enough truth to trigger our collective outrage and compel us to join the choir.
Ranting certainly helps us get a few things off our chest, but it also reveals a character cancer growing deeper inside.
We know this because Jesus said, “the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile a man” (Matthew 15:18).
Even when the cause is righteous, our ranting unearths a polluted heart that has nurtured anger, unforgiveness, and bitterness for far too long.
Writing to the small, suffering church in the ancient city of Philippi, the church leader Paul encouraged them to rejoice always and promised that the peace of God would guard their hearts and minds. But sandwiched in between, he wrote:
Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Philippians 4:5
Gentleness never dilutes or detours from the truth, but it seems our gentle spirit in the public square is the attribute that prompts the Lord’s favor and moves the hearts of those who listen.
So perhaps Jesus would say to us who are compelled to express our outrage absent of gentleness, “Come to me all you who rant. Lay your rage at my feet. Joy in me and let my peace rule your heart. And then see how speaking the truth in love invites others to trust me with the weight of the world.”
Adapted from original which appeared in The MJ Chronicle, February 23, 2022.
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