The Other

Every Friday night during fall, in every high school, parents gather in the bleachers and loudly encourage their kids to crush those from the other school.  All in the name of building school spirit.

The unfortunate side effects from this are many, as is evidenced by the incidents getting saturation coverage in the media at the moment.

The more subtle and insidious lesson learned is that anyone outside our team colors is evil, and so the kids are indoctrinated with a message that the “other,” (whomever they may be – other school, college, race, nation, doctrine, eye color, profession, company…) is to be treated with suspicion, hatred and, preferably, annihilated. When in doubt – point a gun at them. A classic example of this is the movie ET. A cute alien comes to visit. The kid’s response is to party. The adult response is to cover the place in plastic and surround it with heavy weaponry. A great way to start a dialogue.

I am also beginning to suspect that this is also influencing the way Christians think about their relationships. It is instilling a perception that might is right. I have been stunned recently by some of my spiritual heroes espousing revenge and resentment in the name of being strong. An example was a cartoon “liked” by a church goer with a US bomber unloading its payload and the caption “The only response to ISIS killing journalists.” The debate about guns among Christians is often built on the right to self-defense. Really? Is that in the Bible?

In turn, when things get out of control, we rage at each other and at God. Now that I am listening for it, I am hearing resentment being expressed a frightening amount of the time, by people that on the surface are the core of the church. This is shredding families, friendships and workplaces. It is 10 AM and I have already encountered three expressions of deep-rooted bitterness covered in a veneer of “nice”. And this in a place that is actually pretty happy.

The biblical principle is simple – love your enemies. And we can do this because we can trust God to drive what happens in our lives. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” means that he will supply all our needs – including those that we don’t like. Resentment is not a privilege or a right – it is sin. Likewise revenge. Matt 6 says that our being forgiven is tied to our forgiving others. This is not because our salvation has anything to do with what we do, but the failure to forgive is a clear symptom of not being a child of God (See 1 John).

So should we roll over and be walked on? No – but the responsibility for protection and justice runs top down, from God first, delegated to appointed authorities, and no further. Being a vigilante at any level never has a positive connotation.

My exhortation then is to examine your words and attitudes. Are you being eaten by anger because of something that happened to you? Are you attacking people because of past wounds? Stop, repent and step away from your “rights” – you don’t have any. It’s not about you. Your injunction is to love.

Football is not entirely responsible, but let’s teach our kids that somebody “different” is not automatically the spawn of the devil.