The Scandal of Christian Self-pity
I sometimes wonder if being raised in such a blessed culture is a good thing. There are times when I wonder if we ever even notice the abundance of goodness that surrounds us and threatens to overwhelm us. Perhaps it is my perspective these days but lately things have been feeling pretty good. You know – one of the things I notice when I’m in a good mood is the intense sourness of the world around me. I mean sometimes people can be pretty darned miserable. I know at this point I’m sounding fairly unsympathetic and for that I apologize so lets just consider this a small rant.
Ron Sider is a great Christian writer in the Anabaptist tradition and he’s offered up some pretty good books in the past few years especially Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger and The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience. Reading Sider can sometimes feel a little like taking a cold shower on a warm Summer day. He points out a few things like:
– we live in the richest culture on the face of the Earth
– if the world was a street with 100 houses we would live in one of maybe three wealthy homes while the rest of the street lived in abject poverty
You get the idea…despite the fact that even the most poor in our culture live like kings compared to most of the world we seem to have cornered the market in feeling sorry for ourselves. We moan about our jobs and how difficult they make our lives and fail to see the blessing of even having a job. We complain about how small our homes are and fail to see the uniqueness of having a roof over our heads. We gripe about the lack of the latest fashions in our closet or that we only have one car or that we don’t have the latest toys when the rest of the planet cries out in pain every second on the day.
In the midst of our self-pity we drown in a pool of medication and therapy while most of the rest of the planet doesn’t even know the definition of those two words. Eventually, when we’ve been pushed far enough about our situation compared with others, we can often be heard saying in exasperation – "I don’t care what everybody else has or doesn’t have, I care about ME and what I DON’T HAVE!"
Exactly.
Deep down I think we know that the things we have, the people in our lives, the blessings of our country, all these things do not ultimately make us happy. Sadly – when we realize this we fail to look in the correct direction and assume a buffet mentality which says "maybe if I have more I will feel better".
Ultimately our needs are fulfilled by Christ but He is often the last person we look to. We will pray as a last resort when all else has failed and when the latest shopping trip and half-caff caramel machiatto has not soothed our souls. I wish we wouldn’t have to suffer as Job suffered before we recognize our hope is found in Christ alone but sometimes I think that’s what it will take. We are not very much different than Israel when it was released from slavery in Egypt…we get part way through the desert and we’re already thinking our captivity was better and maybe we should return. We think maybe God does not have our best interests in mind.
I realize the irony of ranting about our culture’s self-pitying lack of love. I mean, it’s hardly a Christ-like thing to be doing. I should be meeting such atittudes with compassion. I hope you’ll forgive me. In the mean time I really do love you all (just venting) and wanted to leave you with maybe the ultimate expression of love in the face of real adversity. It is Christ’s prayer for His followers just before His arrest and crucifixion and it is my prayer that maybe in the midst of oyur own pain and lack of joy it creates a little perspective:
Harnessing Chaos 