Compelled by Love

When God sees someone abusing his wife, betraying her husband, corrupting a child, or otherwise perpetrating injustice, it makes him mad. Anger is the healthy response of a holy and moral God to the unholy and immoral deeds we perpetrate against one another.

Some theories of social justice and the spiritual life are modeled more on Aristotle's god - the "Unmoved Mover" - than the God we know in Jesus. When thousands are starving because of ethnic cleansing in Darfur, homeless because of recent flooding, or being aborted and abused, anyone who can be "unmoved" is worshiping Aristotle's impersonal god who is without feeling.

Anyone who knows the God revealed by Jesus of Nazareth has to feel something of God's outrage at the sight of innocent children suffering. He feels seething anger over the sordid things human beings do to one another. He should be enraged. Cry out for justice to be established.

"Give me 100 people who love God and hate sin," said John Wesley, who founded the Methodist Church, "and we will turn the world upside down for Christ!" Dr. Jack Arnold quoted that line from Wesley in the final sermon he preached in January 2005 - collapsing and dying in his pulpit as he moved to its conclusion - and said, "I think I could find 100 men and women who love Christ in America, but I am not sure I could find 100 men and women in America that hate sin." I have been haunted by that line since reading it. I fear he is correct.

I fear we are so sophisticated and unmoved by evil that it doesn't make us angry. We'd rather do lists and observe rituals. We prefer to fight our church battles over whose doctrine is sounder than to follow Jesus into unpleasant places for the sake of caring about prisoners, prostitutes, and pushers.

Is there a parent reading this who would not be enraged at the person who seduced his daughter or hooked her son on cocaine? Is there anyone so cold and indifferent to the welfare of your own flesh and blood that you would be "unmoved" that your child has thrown away innocence? Made memories that will haunt and terrify for the rest of life? If you could receive such news with the calm of a statue, it is only because you have a heart of stone!

God has a tender heart that is passionate for his sons and daughters. If anyone has caused you to think that anger or getting mad is a wrong-headed thing for Christians, rethink that notion.

And get mad about something.

-- Rubel Shelly --


I was sent this article this morning after sending out a few emails just crying out with frustration to those who are near my heart. I am so trying to sort out what you do with the anger at watching so much of this.



I felt myself starting to get really angry a couple weeks ago when one of our interns Kalie was in the hospital downtown to have her appendix removed. I would be going back and forth from the hospital and every night I would see a young gal standing out there prostituting herself...no doubt for food to feed her family. I felt so mad. Mad for her not mad at her.



Then I watched 5 little boys, that I love like my own, climb up into my car and scour it for any sort of food we may have in there, after we'd already given them bags of food. They were so hungry.



I was so angry as I stood and watched. Angry at me. Angry at all of us. Angry at a society that convinces us the "right" thing to do is grow our 401K and save so that when we die we can have A LOT of money to give to our children, so that they can save and put away into their 401K and make sure they save enough to give to their children.



While just a 6 hour plane ride away mother's are watching their children die, with absolutely nothing to give to them in that moment. Does anyone see a vicious cycle that is wrong here??



I'm afraid that sometimes it's not just the perpetrator doing nasty bad things that perpetuates injustice. I'm afraid that we perpetuate it too.



Mom and dad, please know that I am as serious as I have ever been in my life right now. I don't want your money when your time on this earth is over. I will have been grateful for everything you have given me on this earth, but I will not need your pocketbook to treasure every one of those memories. Please spend my share now. You give it to somebody who today has nothing and has no hope of ever getting to save a penny, because they live day to day attempting to survive. You trust God to take care of me when you're gone, because He will. He always does. You hear me shout a loud thank you for loving me and for teaching me that God is in control of this life. I know that sometimes Him being in control has required some serious sacrifice from you. I know He'll have rewards waiting in Heaven for that. I'm sorry that anyone has ever attempted to make you think that to be good parents you owed us that. You do NOT owe me that. I would far rather know that while you were here you attempted to give of yourself and you left with nothing to pass on then that you saved to pass something on for my sake. So excuse yourself from that burden and live giving to those things that you're angry enough about to do something. That will make me prouder than any paycheck at the end of your days. Shame on us. Shame on all of us.


Maybe if we just start somewhere. Maybe getting angry enough to see it is a start.