Meanness for Meanness- Only Leads to Destruction

​ How Scripture Demands us to Respond

Like many of you, I sat and watched as meme after meme, story after story, News Alert after News Alert of the Kathy Griffin and President Trump fiasco invaded my social media pages. "How Rude!" lol

But then I sat down and listened to Kathy when she did her interview and I must admit I have only heard of her.  I don't think I have ever watched or listened to her before... she retaliated with a mean image after a mean statement was said by the President during his election. I hurt for both of them. That they would both be mean enough to state or show such mean things.

During the interview, I did notice the fake tears. Can one really turn off true tears that quickly?But we all know people in this world that return meanness for meanness. This cycle is one that is easy to keep going and going but is very difficult to break. The church is the one that is called to break it in this world. Are we? Are we breaking it or are we continuing it?

I saw Christian after Christian post their thoughts on her. Commenting on how ugly her physical appearance has become to how ugly her actions have become.  To demanding her arrest, which my oldest came home from school doing which I posted my reaction and response to her on my Facebook page.

Personally, meanness seems to be an up front battle in my life lately. Ministry isn't always peaceful. Pre-entire sanctification Bobbi would have came back at that meanness with an all out battle back. I am thankful that God has turned my Fight-to-win spirit into a Fight-to-win-the-Lost spirit. But God's work and words are difficult to ignore when you know them and when you love them.

Luke 15:11-32, it is a very known passage but one I don't think we often apply to our lives as much as we could, we should. The Parable of the Lost Son, always leaves me in awe because the Father let the son go... the son was so mean to the loving father and the father didn't retaliate with meanness but simply let him go. Sometimes, we do have to let people go into their meanness. We cannot control them nor should we. Sometimes spiraling down that path allows them to come to salvation and in the case of the Prodigal Son... he does. But there was a loving father that not only welcomed him back but ran to his son! With open arms... would the church so lovingly run to Kathy Griffin [or insert anyone who has been mean, Trump or myself]? I would hope we would, church. Or would we be the big brother pouting? What if Kathy Griffin just allowed Trump to go into his meanness... but she couldn't just let him go, could she? But now we must ask ourselves, can we just let her go into her meanness? 

Matthew 25:31-46, another very well known passage. The sheep from the goats... I think this is quite possibly the scariest verses of the Bible. It absolutely leads me to dropping to my knees in repentance time and time again. When people are mean, I am often reminded that it is because they need spiritually fed. They are spiritually starving. We all know what "hangry" is, right?! Or am I the only one that suffers from that? I get so mean when I am physically hungry. I hate to think how mean I become when I am spiritually hungry. That is what I see here. A chance for us to feed spiritually hungry people. If we truly are his sheep... let us feed them! But they have to be willing to be fed, don't they? That leads us back to Luke 15, where the son comes back starving... 

You see, the cycle of meanness can be broken.... it is only if we are willing to stop it. I know that meanness is simply what we will see in the world and from the world but as the church... our love has to be more if they are going to see the kind of love Christ has to offer.