"Really?" by Ps Michael Podhaczky

Really? It seems that wherever we look social media is alight with one person or another having a go at someone else, for some reason. This is not new; humans have always had opinions and fought to make them number one in the social scheme of things. But now many have a huge public platform to push their opinions. 

For example, “Fake news. Social media outrage. Political polarization. Ideological bullying. These are just a few of the centralizing characteristics of our current social climate… 
It should not surprise us, then, that our collective cultural head is spinning as we simultaneously attempt to hold together a persistent insistence on ideological tolerance and a call for radical justice outrage… social bullying and bigotry”1

Really, we need to act like this? Why, what is going on with us humans? Well that’s just it; we are self-centred, self-righteous and overflowing with pride. We all need to take a chill pill and pause before we fly into action with our ninja fingers on the keyboard. Namely, when first hearing anything that’s against our opinions, we need to think and consider the one we may hurt if we give them a social hacking.

 We may need to ask ourselves questions like: 
• Do we have all the facts? 
• Have both sides had a chance to speak? 
• Is this a matter worth my time or and the pain that I might cause? 
• Am I inspired by a desire to glorify God with my response? Or, am I jumping on a bandwagon of outrage because it seems like the thing to do?
• Am I truly seeking to better the society in which I live if I engage in lightning fast animal reactions to each and every politically polarising social media story that streams across my computer? 

So, instead of getting outraged by others options let us commit to making wisdom great again. We can start to do so by asking God for grace to put in practice the great wisdom principle of the Saviour, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Lk 6:1 NLT).”2

Or as it has been said in the Message version, “Here is a simple rule of thumb for behaviour: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that” (Lk 6:31-34 The Message (MSG). 

Pause in His presence for a moment and think this over… 

1 “Let’s Make Wisdom Great Again.” http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2019/01/lets-make-wisdom-great-again.php (24th January 2019). 
2 “Let’s Make Wisdom Great Again.” http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2019/01/lets-make-wisdom-great-again.php (24th January 2019).