“Nothing signals conviction and passion in this age more than the art of being theatrically offended. And it would be easy to see the vehemence of our outrage as evidence that we are “engaging the culture,” when we would be doing nothing of the sort. If outrage were a sign of godliness, then the devil would be the godliest soul in the cosmos.”-Russell Moore
We are living in a time when it seems that everyone is taking a stand.
A stand against killing gorillas.
A stand against parents who let their kids fall into a pit with a gorilla.
A stand against radical Islam.
A stand against Democrats.
A stand against Republicans.
A stand against the LGBT community.
A stand against coffee cups that don’t say what we want them to say.
Man, we love taking a stand!
One of the questions this has raised in my mind is why are Christians so good at taking a stand yet we are not so good when it comes to building relationships and getting to know people in everyday life?
I think one of the reasons we are inclined to take a stand and not actually get to know the people right next door is for one simple reason; it’s easier. (Perhaps the most fundamental reason is that we have simply forgotten the gospel).
Posting something on social media is easy. Conversations about how godly America use to be is easy. Talking or typing and not genuinely listening is easy. Outrage is easy (and it makes us feel good). Pretending we are doing something good for the world by complaining is easy.
Yet I think our wealth of resources and opportunities lends itself to this theory that we may be part of the most overrated generation in human history—because we have access to so much data, info, resources, modes of communication … but we end up doing so little. We tweet, blog, talk, preach, retweet, share, like, and click incessantly. While I’m not implying that the aforementioned things aren’t actions, what do those actions actually cost us? How are we sacrificing? In fact, recent research even indicates that people who demonstrate support for causes and organizations on social media, such as Facebook, actually do less in real life. They are less likely to donate their money or volunteer their time. -Eugene Cho
Imagine. What if we did more than taking a stand regarding the social issues of our day? What if we took the second greatest commandment in all of Scripture seriously, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”? What kind of impact would the church begin making? How would we change the perception the world has of us? How might hearts be opened up to the gospel if we opened up our house for meals and relationships with the people who live all around us?
MichaelWallenmeyer.com 