Be At Peace

Yesterday I analogized myself to the proverbial porch sitting curmudgeon.  The world is full of the completely, astonishingly outrageous.  Late last week, dean of conservative Calvinist preachers, John Piper, released a podcast entitled “Preaching Outrage” and given the current situation and my current mood, I dove in.

I will start by being disappointed.  Piper is deeply conservative and his discussion never acknowledges that the Left feels the same level of outrage as we on the right do, just on the opposite side of a given issue.  This is especially true with the current administration.  While the current administration could actually care less about most social issues, the social issue driven Left feels deeply threatened based simply on style and demeanor – and they act accordingly.  Because I have been known to attend left-leaning churches, I have heard their outrage preached just as I have heard right-leaning outrage preached.

The heart of Christianity is to make the other more important than the self.  In failing to acknowledge the outrage the Left is experiencing, Piper fails in this task.  Understanding their outrage does not mean they are right on the issues.  Understanding their outrage builds a bridge and that is what we need more than anything else.

The advice that Piper gives is good advice, but it is not enough.  He talks about not letting the outrage consume us and focusing on what is good.  He talks about guarding against engaging in their sin.  He talks about “dealing with them in a serious biblical way.”  But he never talks about loving them as Jesus loved them – and that is where he falls woefully short.

It is not easy to love the hardcore Left because they hate us passionately.  The will rebuff our approaches and condemn our offering of love unless we agree with them.  In such circumstances it is easy to walk away and condemn.  But when we do we join them to some extent.  We may have to walk away from time-to-time to protect ourselves.  It is necessary to point out the wrongness of their actions.  But it is not ours to condemn them – that judgment belongs to God and God alone.

If we focus on being God’s men and women, our outrage will subside.  That does not mean there is still not a lot of very ugly happening in this world.  Nor does it mean we need to turn a blind eye to that ugly and evil.  But it means we can address what is wrong with the world in a calm way, shining with the love of Christ.

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