How dare they! How could they think that? That’s outrageous!
Thoughts like these are far too common for most of us these days.
It doesn’t matter which side of politics, culture or religion you stand on, we all too often find ourselves feeling outraged by something someone else has said or done.
A classic example of this was the Olympic Games in France recently.
First, there was the opening ceremony, which caused outrage among conservatives and religious folk.
Then there was the boxing fiasco, where anti-trans activists were outraged by supposedly ‘male’ boxers competing in the female category, and there was further outrage directed back the other way at the way the poor boxers themselves were being treated.
And, of course, there was the break-dancing, which sent everyone apoplectic with rage simply for being at the Olympics in the first place, until the whole event was saved by our very own Aussie darling, ‘Raygun’, who showed up everyone else for taking it far too seriously.
How are we all feeling right now? Is there a way to deal with these sorts of events without descending into the depths of our being and erupting out like a volcano?
Surely there’s a better way of interacting and engaging as a society!
Of course, we can’t forget that the media/social media companies, using crafty ‘click-bait’ headlines, clever memes and devious algorithms, are at the centre of all this, feeding us all the information we want to hear to foment just the right level of outrage required to get us to share the content with our friends or fire off a nasty comment in response, which drives more clicks, shares and revenue for the tech companies.
But simply knowing that this is happening doesn’t seem to shield us from the negative effects.
We are still feeling emotionally and mentally exhausted by all the flak flying around, and our relationships and mental health are taking an absolute beating.
How can we be better than this?
Step one is, it starts with us.
Jesus made this point when He asked, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”
If we want to get away from the ‘us against them’ mentality, then we need to stop worrying about ‘them’, and focus on getting ourselves right.
We can’t change many of the things that are going on around us, but we can change how we respond.
Step two is to decide not to join the fray.
The Apostle Paul, writing to a group of early Jesus followers (Christians), advised, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
If, instead of spending our emotional energy trying to come up with the best knock-down argument/insult against whoever ‘they’ are, or ‘sharing our rage as widely as possible’, we instead tried to respond in a way that showed understanding towards ‘them’, it’s just possible that we may be able to create a calmer atmosphere within our little circle of contacts, and we may even be able to have some healthy discussions about important issues.
Step three is to get help.
I’m not going to pretend that it’s easy to make the decision to step away from the fight and seek peace and engagement. (After all, there’s a reason the social media algorithms work so well, they know psychology better than we do!)
And who better to seek help from than the Prince of Peace Himself, Jesus!
This is what He says to us, “In me you can have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Why don’t you ask Jesus to give you a chance at finding peace today!
Ps Donovan Jasper, New Life Baptist