Mad?

I have been wondering today why people are so mean.  I'm not even sure we realize when we're being mean to one another anymore.  Sometimes it is rooted in our feeling that we've lost control and do not like the one who seems to have it.  Sometimes we're just mean because we think we're right and everyone else is wrong.  It seems these days that mean or cruel words/behaviors are said/done on the internet or via email rather than during face to face conversation.  It's a lot easier to be mean when you don't have to directly face a person you are hurting.

I am certain this happens in all sorts of communities, business places, and of course in schools.  We hear more about bullying these days than we ever have.  I guess tonight what hurts my soul the most is how often this kind of behavior happens within the church.  It's easier to talk negatively about your pastor to your friends in the congregation than to confront him/her directly.  It's much easier to send an email and rile others up than it is to support change and growth in the church, especially when that change pushes you right out of your comfort zone.  It's easy to withhold funds from the church you love because something his happening that you don't like (though giving is a response to the blessings of God and a discipline of faith).  What amazes me is that someone who has been faithful in supporting something for years can, at a moment's notice, turn their back on all that God has done in and through that community just because they may not agree 100% with something that is said, even when it benefits another part of the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 18 is a passage of Scripture that is known as the Rule of Christ.  It says:

12-14 “Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn’t he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn’t want to lose even one of these simple believers.

15-17 “If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend. If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church. If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love.

Immediately following this passage is Christ's call for us to forgive.  Not just one time, not twice - but as many as it takes to allow God's grace to heal the situation.  Yes sometimes that means we need to shake the dirt off our sandals and move on - but that doesn't mean we do all we can to get a big group to follow us, spouting anger and preventing any chance of reconciliation.

When children fight parents urge them to apologize, to confront the situation, and to move on.  Why as adults do the rules change?  I think it is rooted in the fact that we do not take the time to find the Image of God in those we find most aggravating.  If we did, if we truly sought to see the good (the God) in others we couldn't possible do the damage we do to one another, or to the faith community.  We would begin to realize that even when we are angered, when we feel misunderstood or that something/someone is completely wrong - that maybe, just maybe they too are being convicted by the Holy Spirit - even LED by God to challenge you to a new perspective.  

Maybe this devotion is just an opportunity for me to vent tonight - so I apologize if that's how it sounds.  But in all honesty I want to challenge all of us to speak boldly in love.  To look one another in the eye and discuss the tensions, the anger, the frustrations.  It's too easy to gossip, to post your negativity on Facebook, to avoid the steps Christ has called us to take in situations such as this.  Before you leave the church, before you slander the pastor, before you decide that you can't stand the music or that one person who seems to "run" everything - just take a few days to look for the Christ in them.  You just might find the Christ in you.