We're all familiar with moral outrage. Generally speaking, both sides of a question experience it. One side is morally outraged that "they" would do "that" and those who are doing "that" are morally outraged that the other side would be outraged. Haters. What no one seems to be asking is "To what purpose?" The question I'm asking is to the "right." Church people in general and Christians in particular (but certainly not exclusively) are often viewed as morally outraged. Scripture says, "Abhor what is evil" (Rom 12:9). Solomon wrote, "The fear of YHWH is hatred of evil" (Prov 8:13). David said of God, "You hate all evildoers" (Psa 5:5). It's in there. But why? To what end?
Our commands are actually quite simple: love God with everything we have and are, and love others as we love ourselves (Matt 22:36-39). Jesus said, "On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets" (Matt 22:40). Paul said the whole law was fulfilled in one word: love (Gal 5:14). So if sin is a problem, the fundamental direction we must take is ... love. Not hate or even moral outrage. Now, of course, not this "warm and mushy" love our culture likes to embrace. Real love, the kind that seeks the best for the loved one. The kind that will sacrifice greatly for the loved one. To what end are we to respond to sinners regarding their sin? Love.
The primary aim is love and the fundamental premise is that God, the Creator of human beings, knows what is best for His creations. So it isn't moral outrage that is needed toward sinners. It is deep and abiding concern. It is a longing for their (our -- we're all sinners) best. It is prayer and love. If, in our moral outrage, we are more outraged at sinners than sin, we're missing the point. If we're more offended by sinners than sin, we're missing the point. And if the ultimate aim is not their best -- a living relationship with the God of the universe -- we're missing the point. We are, in fact, sinning.
4 comments:
It's almost like "Love" is a universal moral law.
Almost ... except when the definition changes from self-sacrifice for their best interest to "makes me feel warm."
But it begins with moral outrage. To witness any behavior provokes a response determined by that behavior and often by the moral quality of that behavior. If I see someone attempting to groom a child, I'm morally outraged. I won't apologize for it. But it's what comes next which demonstrates an act of love (or not). The outrage is recognition of the sin. It typically reflects the seriousness of the sin according to the moral understanding of the witness. For the purposes of human coexistence, some sins are more serious than others as some sins are more harmful to those against whom the sin was committed. It's easy to guide a child who steals a cookie from the cookie jar before dinner compared to guiding a gang-banger who's beating up his whore. The latter provokes more outrage and I wouldn't think much of someone who doesn't feel it in light of the severity of the act.
Then, the outrage leads to what hopefully is an appropriate legal response, being it in civil terms or personal, as we all have our codes of morality. For the Christian, love is certainly proper, but how it is expressed might require a severe response. Call it "tough love".
You have explained the normal version of "moral outrage" and how it is right and good, but where is the "love your enemies"? I agree that it is important to take care of people who are being wronged, but is there no need to love the people who are doing wrong?
I just saw a commercial where a talk show type is talking about the difference between love and respect. "Love," he says, "is 'I want you' but respect is 'I honor you.'" He has offered the standard version of love, but not the biblical one. Your "tough love" might better fall in the biblical category than the world's version.
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