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14 Remind them of this, and warn them before God[a] that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth. 16 Avoid profane chatter, for it will lead people into more and more impiety, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene.
– 2 Timothy 2:14-16
The unforgettable and treasured pairing of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, evoking mock animosity, face off against each other with the Gershwins’ classic lovers’ spat. “You like potato and I like potahto; You like tomato and I like tomahto. Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto, let’s call the whole thing off…” Their lyrical quarrel seems utterly quaint in the light of this era’s nuclear powered rage machine.
The American appetite for animosity baffles me. Upon pulling in the driveway after long commutes and even longer days, people collapse on the couch and intentionally tune in to reality stars bowing up and bleeping out in manufactured mayhem; pundits launching diatribes against targets neither present nor watching, all for the pleasure of their captive connoisseurs of zealotry; misanthropic chefs exulting in hissy fits.
The iconic boxer Muhammed Ali often reveled in transforming the boredom of a weigh-in into an operatic display of bravado and faux anger, hoping to ratchet up the drama of and attention to the main event. Yet, these days we have middle-aged sportscasters ruffling their garish sportscoats with vehement attacks on other sportscasters over backup receivers on their fantasy teams! Hyperventilating over fantasy (i.e., not real)? Seriously?
Rage draws attention. Conflict pays these days, but to what end? I read this week about a friendship that broke up over a disagreement about which Lorde album was the best. At the time she had only recorded two, so the argument was venial even before it began. In the same magazine, a writer was angered and offended for being shushed in the quiet room of a college library. I mean, it is clearly labeled and people are studying, so I’m not sure a shushing is warrant for offense or anger.
Paul counsels, “Warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening.” What is the witness our heated wars with words offer? In Proverbs, it is written, “Fools show their anger at once, but the prudent ignore an insult;” and “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but one who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” The rage machine is certainly not broken, but it can surely break you. So, let’s unplug it, and allow the good news to be heard.
Grace and Peace,
Matt
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