There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground- Amos 5:7 NIV

  I have be listening to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. The podcast chronicles the events that led to the fall of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. It tells the story of Mark Driscoll as well as other leaders within the mega-church movement. The first-hand accounts of the pride, questionable doctrine and longing for celebrity endemic within the movement left me grieving for the body of Christ. The unjust and sometimes even evil actions of a few have forever sullied the name of Jesus and caused many to leave the church.  

This morning when I turned on the news the first story was about a mother whose son was killed in the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The woman is angry about the death of her son and frustrated with how the government has handled every sordid detail of the withdrawal. So, she did what many of us do in 2021 when we are angry and frustrated. She went to a social media platform and vented her anger. Her thoughts were immediately censored on social media and shoved down the memory hole. The whole thing was wrong on a million different levels. A grief-stricken mother should be allowed to openly vent her anger. The people in charge should own their mistakes and the memory hole should be forever left on the pages of George Orwell’s book 1984.  

These are just two small examples of injustice and evil in our world. There are at least a million more out there. Injustice and evil have become ubiquitous. Truth is routinely twisted and lies have become so routine that in some situations it is really hard to know what’s actually true. We live in a time where good is called evil and evil is called good (Isaiah 5:20). 

The state of our world can leave even mature Christians feeling angry and bitter about bad leadership and lack of justice. Christ-followers are instructed to avoid the sin of bitterness at all costs (Hebrews 12:15, Ephesians 4:31), because it inevitably leads to attitudes and actions that have the power to defile every person in our circle of influence.  

There is no easy way to avoid feeling bitter towards unjust leaders.  However, there are four things we can do that will help us stay free of bitterness if we do them routinely: 

Remember nothing escapes God’- 

Because God is merciful, kind and eager for everyone to repent He does not punish every sin or sinner in real time (2nd Peter 3:9). This can sometimes make it look and feel as if God is unaware of injustice or that He doesn’t care about evil. If we believe the lie that God does not care we will either become bitter towards God and the world or we will join in with the sinners and sin our heads off. Both responses will cause us to lose our spiritual light and saltiness (Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 3:10). If enough Christians lose their ability to be salt and light the brokenness and evil in this world will win. The key to staying holy and hopeful in these times is to hold onto the Bible promise that there will come a day when God will deal decisively with sin and those who have caused other people to sin (Mark 9:42, Romans 2:9-10, Revelation 20:11-15). 

Be the person this world needs right now- 

Seriously. Just do it. Choose to be the person who stands up for the oppressed and hurting, who fights obvious injustice and loves without limits. Love and righteousness are transformative. Acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God is the key to a living a life God blesses (Psalm 11:7, Proverbs 21:15, Micah 6:8). Furthermore, choosing to enter the battle brings with it a sense of purpose that produces hope even in the toughest of times.

Don’t give into the temptation to be vengeful- 

Vengeance can take many forms that don’t include acts of physical violence. It can take the form of rude verbal or written retaliation (my biggest personal issue, sigh.). Vengeance can also include things like refusing to pray for or do good things for people we view as our enemies (Matthew 5: 38-41, Matthew 5:44).  Jesus directly commands us to pray for and do good to those who do us wrong. Refusing to obey Jesus always leads to hardness of heart that leads to both more sin and more personal misery. 

Pray-

Okay, I get it, encouraging people to pray while the world goes to hell in a hand cart sounds trite and feels like a copout. However, prayer is anything but a copout. Prayer is the most transformative act on earth. I do not know or understand all the particulars on how prayer works. But it does. Prayer doesn’t just transform situations it also transforms the heart of the person praying. Prayer, done consistently and in faith gives the person praying an awareness of God’s presence.  Awareness of God’s presence always leads to a love for others and a sense of hope for the future. 

There is no sense sugar coating the situation: life sucks on a bunch of different levels right now. Righteousness, justice and good leadership are in short supply. The one good thing about dark times is it does give us almost unlimited opportunities to shine our light in the darkness. When we choose to shine Jesus’ light we become a part of the solution.