Addicted to Outrage

Titus 3:1,2 Remind your people that they should always be under the authority of rulers and government leaders. They should obey these leaders and be ready to do good. Tell them not to speak evil of anyone but to live in peace with others. They should be gentle and polite to everyone.

So, how do you feel about the people running your country, your state or region, your city or town? Are they, in your opinion, doing a good job … or are you, like many, outraged at their behaviour?

Some people today will be pondering those questions in places where they’re simply not allowed to express an opinion. But for the rest of us, many aren’t backward in coming forward in expressing their outrage at what they consider to be plainly stupid policies, at the way their leaders conduct themselves, how they speak, how they look, at their perceived hypocrisy, at largesse and, where it exists, corruption.

I read an article in my newsfeed the other day entitled, “Are We Becoming Addicted to Outrage?” There’s a pretty strong case to be made that we are. If you type “outrage addiction” into your search engine, you’ll see that everyone’s talking about it – from psycologytoday.com right through to fashion magazines.

Just look around. The so-called press is constantly fuelling outrage just to get our attention. Bloggers are fuelling conspiracy theories. And the most upsetting thing about it all is that people who call themselves “Christians” are amongst the worst of a bad bunch. Reality check:

Titus 3:1,2 Remind your people that they should always be under the authority of rulers and government leaders. They should obey these leaders and be ready to do good. Tell them not to speak evil of anyone but to live in peace with others. They should be gentle and polite to everyone.

You may not like that. I get it. But let’s be perfectly clear.

It is God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.