If, like me, you have been unfortunate enough to hear the barrage of campaign ads, you have probably been distressed by the angry accusations blasted like canon shots back and forth between party lines. It’s enough to cause those of us old enough to remember them, to long for the good old days when political campaigns were more civil and simply tossed mud back and forth.
The campaigns themselves seem to be indicative of the national mood — the national anger. Just as with individuals, it is pointless to rail against anger being expressed on a national level as though it were a conscious choice to which Americans had given much thought. Looking beneath the anger to discover the root causes and dealing with them is much more fruitful in quelling its fury.
Jim White
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A biblical example of corporate anger is found in Acts, chapter 6. Everything was going great for the infant church in Jerusalem. Many people, even priests, were finding exciting new life in Christ and the church was growing exponentially. Then, anger was expressed along racial lines. The old prejudices between Gentiles and Jews were probably underlying issues, but the presenting problem was an accusation by the Christians of Gentile origin that their widows were not receiving the same benevolent treatment as the Jewish Christian widows. Anger is a normal emotion when we or those we love are treated unfairly or unjustly.
How the Apostles responded to this accusation is a lesson for all corporate bodies, whether ecclesiastical or legislative. What could they have done?
They could have said, “You are wrong. You only think they are being overlooked.” They could have commissioned a study with instructions to report back next year. They could have ignored the plea for justice. They could have played the blame game complete with finger-pointing, “It’s not our fault, it’s theirs!” Do any of these sound familiar? Any of these responses would have made matters worse. When a group feels powerless to end the injustice, they become even angrier.
Instead, the Apostles took the accusations seriously. Whether they were real or only perceived, the neglect was real to those who felt neglected! They presented a solution that had the weight of wisdom and spiritual soundness behind it. For its part, the church was reasonable enough that it could recognize a solution when it was presented and it was patient enough to allow the process to work! The end result? The church continued to grow.
Psychologists who study such things say that anger is the emotional response to frustrated expectations, threats and attacks (perceived or real) or injustice inflicted upon us or those we care about and identify with. The rise of anger limits our ability to think clearly and rationally and causes us to engage in emotionally-charged responses that are often ultimately destructive.
Anger seeks a release and an outlet. Kicking the dog is a clichéd reaction though taking out our anger on innocent parties is far from uncommon. “Delivering the mail to the wrong address,” is a common occurrence when we are motivated by anger. So is over-reaction.
So, what is causing all this national anger? It is easy to see frustrations mount and anger rise when Americans are worried about keeping their jobs and paying their bills and whether their home is worth less than they owe on it. Add to this, health care costs that are still front-burner concerns and the anger level rises. The threat of a bleak future looms in the minds of some stealing hope. Pile on the perception that Congress is self-serving, unresponsive and has created for itself different rules than the rest of us have to live by, and you have a ready-made target.
Is there a solution? In the absence of the Apostles, perhaps preachers will do. That’s right. Preachers. Please understand, I am not talking about headline-grabbing, egomaniacal, single-issue, pat-answer potentates that sometimes get called preachers in the media. No, I’m talking about the real McCoys.
I’m talking about preachers that call the nation to think and act on a higher plane. Preachers can call their people to honest evaluations or seek to stir up fearful frenzies. What we need in our time are those men and women of God who will bring wisdom to our national circumstances. We need preachers who can look objectively at real problems without losing their ability to think logically and creatively — and encourage their people to do the same. We need preachers who will resist the temptation to find scapegoats against whom to vent their anger and encourage their people to do likewise.
We need preachers who will refuse to be drawn into mob mentality even if it means standing against other preachers. We need preachers who will appropriately apply God’s Word to national situations with even-handed grace. We need preachers who will feel the injustices suffered by those who cannot help themselves or who are so disillusioned with the system they have quit even trying, and become angry on their account.
We need preachers who will see the nation, the world and the church through the eyes of the Father and see Spirit-inspired solutions that are fair to all and take advantage of none. We need preachers who are courageous enough to stand against popular opinion if it is wrong and loving enough to bring their people along with them in their thinking.
We need preachers who will bring hope and healing not hurt and harassment!
Americans are angry; and there seems to be enough to be angry about. Whether this national anger causes us to rise up and collectively fix some of the ills that have plagued us or so polarize us that like Humpty-Dumpty there is no putting us back together, remains to be seen.
But one thing is certain. Preachers; good, honest, wise, Godly, biblically-based, Holy Spirit-led preachers have never been needed more. Let the audacity of national hope start in the pulpit.
Jim White is editor of the Religious Herald.