One Way to Cope in an Age of Rage
We live in an age of rage.
We see or experience it in the near-constant sniping, tribalism, outrage, and character assassination which dominates much of social media. Much of our rage stems from the past year’s Covid lock-downs—the pent up frustration with health “experts” changing their minds on a daily basis, in governmental malfeasance and power-grabs, in being cooped-up at home with screaming kids, trying to simultaneously teach them while attempting to work from home and communicate with our fellow cooped-up and frustrated co-workers via Zoom.
Then there is the ease at which you can scream at someone from the safety of your keyboard and smart phone without ever knowing or speaking face-to-face with the person about whom you assume the worst. Keyboard cowardism pre-dates Covid, as does the phenomena of the “internet expert” who, because they can write creatively, encourage their readers to embrace their foil-hat conspiracy theory and then vent their fury at those who are not taken in by contrived “evidence.”
Our culture of rage has only gotten worse. The news is filled with people who attack (sometimes physically and violently) retailers, food servers, and others who we do see face to face—those we encounter who want us masked, or unmasked, vaccinated or unvaccinated, who think the worst of us if we mask, or go about our business unmasked. What previous generations of Americans saw as being a good citizen (comply with government edicts about public health) is now a way to express one’s tribal and political identity, with little or no regard for fellow citizens.
We live in an age when it is not uncommon to see videos of people melting down on airplanes and forcibly duct-taped to their seats to protect themselves and others from potential disaster—airplane cabins become death chambers if a door is opened in flight. We have seen audacious outrage in the events of January 6, when a mob attempted to storm the US Capital to prevent a presidential election from being certified.
Yes, we live in an age of rage. But it is not just the other guy to whom I am speaking. I too am guilty of rage. My heart is filled with it. So is yours, both before and after the pandemic. Yet, somehow I can excuse it. Whatever anger and rage I feel is because my neighbor is on the wrong side. They support candidate X, not Y. They have a different public health philosophy than I do. What is wrong with them? Why can’t they see things correctly as I do? My anger arises because of their actions and beliefs, not because of my own sinful heart and self-righteous propensities. In light of this, Paul has something to say to me, and to you.
The Bible speaks to the root cause of such rage, while offering one way for me to cope with my own sins and the despair that a culture of rage brings down upon many of us.
In Psalm 36, the Psalmist laments the ways of the wicked, while at the same time contemplating the goodness of God. As the Psalm opens, the Psalmist describes the wicked in the following terms. “Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil” (vv. 1-4).
While the wicked plot trouble even as they lie in bed (Psalm 36:4), in Philippians 4:8, the Apostle Paul exhorts the readers of his Letter to the Philippians to reject the way of the wicked, and to live as people who have been counted as righteous before God through faith in Jesus Christ and his saving and sanctifying merits (cf. Philippians 3:9). Christians are not to be people of rage. To make his point, Paul enumerates six specific qualities which were well-known in popular Greek moral philosophy, before exhorting his readers to “think about these things.” These qualities mentioned by Paul are both good in themselves, as well as beneficial for others, and stand in sharp contrast to the nighttime plotter of Psalm 36.
In verse 8 of Philippians chapter four, Paul writes, “finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Paul thinks of his readers as Christians who have been justified by the merits of Christ evident from his use of the affectionate term “brothers,” to describe those who are not to contemplate evil in the same manner (unrepentant), as do the wicked (cf. Philippians 3:9).
The Philippians are to think of those things which are true. Christians are not to fill their minds with pagan myths, fables, or unfounded conspiracy theories, but to frame their thinking in light of the Christian truth claim, that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). It is hard to know how to act, if one doesn’t know the truth—the foundation for all of our thinking, decisions, and actions. The Philippians are also exhorted to think on things that are honorable. The Greek word Paul uses here means “serious” or “dignified.” It was an adjective used of holy things like the commandments and the temple. Christians are to regard holy things with a proper degree of reverence. We are to take the things of God seriously. His truth (revealed in his word) must always inform our personal opinions.
The next two items on Paul’s list are closely related–justice and purity. For a Christian, any discussion of “justice” (conduct that is either “right” or “wrong”) must take place against the background of the commandments of God–those laws which God revealed in the covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai. Those who obey God’s commandments act in a just or upright manner before God, as well as in relationship to their neighbors. We are to love our neighbors, even if they voted for the wrong candidate, or take a different response to Covid than I have chosen to take.
Purity is a closely related term, referring to chastity and moral purity, as well as what we might call “integrity.” Christians are not to be characterized as those who plot and scheme how to defile themselves and violate the commandments of God. Rather, Christians are to consider the consequences of their actions in light of God’s law. What do we tweet, editorialize, or write about? We can disagree and make our case, of course. But we must do so with integrity and in light of the fact that I am to love others and be charitable—even when I disagree with them. This is what it means to be upright.
When Paul speaks of things that are “lovely” he is referring to things which reflect love toward others. This would include speaking and acting in a gracious and appropriate way. It is to be agreeable. If I don’t like a retailer’s or restaurant’s masking policy, I have no right to chew someone out, who in all likelihood is following their employer’s policy—something a good employee ought to do or find another place to work. To think upon things that are commendable is to carefully consider and value things that are intrinsically worthwhile–not trivial or without purpose. In other words, we are to think about things that truly matter, not things which are fleeting and have no lasting value. We need to see our politics, our public health choices, and what we say and do in social media, in light of eternal things.
Having listed six qualities, Paul moves on to emphasize both the importance and comprehensive nature of these things by introducing two conditions meant to be answered in the affirmative. “If there is any excellence?” is Paul’s way of emphasizing that when Christians encounter any excellent things (as summarized in the six qualities above) they should think upon them. Although the term is taken from Greek philosophy (with which Paul’s audience would have been well-familiar), Paul’s ultimate point of reference is not Greek philosophy, but God’s law. True moral excellence is manifest by conformity to the law of God. Paul also speaks of things which are worthy of praise. If a Christian encounters anything praiseworthy, they are to think on it. Here too, Paul uses a contemporary term from moral philosophy to exhort Christians to reflect upon that conduct which is truly praiseworthy.
Whether Paul has the wicked person from Psalm 36 in mind or not (he probably does), the contrast between the one who lies awake at night plotting evil, and those Christians to whom Paul is referring could not be greater. While the wicked think on evil things, the Christian must learn to focus their thinking upon those things which are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable. Because the heart follows the mind, those who think upon these things will find themselves not so easily reflecting the character of the wicked, but of Christ himself.
If I know this to be true of the wicked, and this is something I ought not do, then it behooves us all to make a conscious effort to stop looking for things to be angry about and assuming the worst of our neighbor. Given our culture of rage, we should all make a serious effort to reflect upon “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
We’ll still have hearts that easily fill with rage, but we know to repent of such thinking, and to seek Paul’s better way. There are indeed worthwhile things to think about even in a culture of rage.