Learning When to be Outraged

My friend had his car inspected, and the estimate to pass was a shock. On second thought, they offered to cut the cost 15%, but he really should do it all now, and it’s such a good deal. You probably already guessed that: the brakes were fine, and a tuneup wasn’t required for the inspection. Somebody, perhaps desperate for business, thought they saw a sucker.

I should be outraged, but I’m not. You might think I’m jaded, but that’s not it either.

John 8:1-11, the story of the woman caught in adultery, is probably not authentic, but the message is hard to dismiss. While 10-11 still doesn’t ring true for me, v.7 and its predecessors describe exactly how my heart functions: I’m imperfect, and I drug my guilt with accusations towards others. “How could they do that?” and “I’d never do anything like that” are the caustic balm of self righteousness.

I cannot forget standing by a basketball court, not playing, waiting my turn, watching other boys dribble in front of me, thinking, “What if someone who wasn’t playing slapped the ball?” In years of play, I never saw anyone do it. But I did, impulsively, for no good reason. “It’s only basketball,” you say, but it symbolizes a lifetime of “doing it,” a total destruction of any credible protestation that “I would never do that.”

As I grow older, outrage has been replaced by understanding of my own culpability- I’m no better than any other miscreant. Perhaps I didn’t commit his outrageous act, but my “foibles” are a) every bit as enslaving b) just as bad in God’s sight. I am encouraged that perhaps self-righteousness is in a small decline.

But I have nagging questions, because I’m no longer sure God wants to eliminate all outrage in me. As I read Scripture, there are times to be outraged, even angry at injustice, because it affronts God’s holiness. I’m not sure yet how to do it, but God expects a paradoxical mixture of grace toward all AND outrage toward wrong. Come to think of it, He models this for me, and I am grateful.

John 8:1-11; Matthew 7:1-5; Eph 4:26a; Matt 21:12-13.