What Gets You Mad? 5-24-09
Over the past couple weeks I was driving a little further during morning rush hour, which left me time for the morning “news and views” as they are described on a local D.C. radio show. The show featured a variety of topics, and thus a variety of viewpoints from the callers. In addition to either agreeing with the caller or thinking they were a few sandwiches shy of a picnic, I was stunned at the perspective of many of the callers.
For example, former NFL star Michael Vick was released from prison, having been sentenced to twenty-three months for his dog-fighting operation. The vehemence with which callers expressed outrage that he was even out of prison, but also that he could potentially go back to playing professional football. When hearing these calls, I was reminded of when the story about what he was doing to the dogs first broke; there were many who were calling for him to be locked up for decades to life.
Now, it was quite disturbing to me to read the accounts of what went on with the dogs; normal people do not do such things. But it caused me to wonder why so much outrage was shown towards someone who abused dogs in horrific manners, and yet many of these same people turn a blind eye to the millions of babies butchered in America (and yes, butchery is an apt depiction – read the accounts of how “abortions” are performed). No, this is seen as a political or social argument between two “sides” that many cannot be bothered to decide between. But don’t hurt the dogs.
There are many examples of this: the people who burned Ken Lay (of Enron) in effigy for his theft and fraud, yet cannot seem to be concerned about the greed and corruption of their elected officials; the people who become quite active for causes centered on the environment, yet are blasé about the atheistic indoctrination of our school children. It seems that I often find myself wondering what it takes to get people mad about certain things!
I then started to wonder: is God frustrated with me in this same way? Do I get mad about the things that he does? Sure. Of course. After all, what is it that makes God mad?
“You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below … You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy … Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house … or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:3-17 NIV)
There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16-19 NIV)
For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. / These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. (Jude 4,16 NIV)
We do not think like God. We have no basis upon which to make a judgment about God, except to accept that he is absolutely right (which means that we are wrong). These are just a few of the many passages that reveal to us God’s character. Man seeks to justify sin so that he can keep on sinning. God sought to justify the sinner by condemning the sin and nailing it to the cross.
But just because God seeks to be reconciled with us does not mean that he is okay with our sin! He is appalled at it! He detests the corruption and filth of our lives here. But he loves us enough that he sent Jesus to bleed for our cleansing. So with all that he has gone through for our sakes, maybe we ought to get more in line with his character and get mad at sin. Get mad at the evil that goes on in the world. Get mad at the sin in your own life. Mad enough that you get sick of it and rid your life of it!