Commenters for several years have been dissecting the role and affect of social media in our lives; identifying an “outrage culture” (see here, here, and here) that seems to bring us a seemingly endless flow of things to be indignant about, demanding a response. In a world beset with troubles there is, of course, a truly never-ending list of human failures and injustices to be confronted. Yet, “outrage fatigue” seems to be a not uncommon response amongst many otherwise engaged and justice-seeking people. How can we, as followers of Christ, stand against injustice and inequality, and still hold onto the the hope in Christ that lies at the center of faith in a world where our communications networks continually uncover more and greater evil?
Over at Ministry Matters, they have a new blog post titled Tithing Our Anger that offers some perspective on how to use our anger. Beginning with “Your anger is too valuable to waste,” it goes on to say that:
Anger has an important role to play in the life of faith. People who do not admit anger into their spiritual repertoire are living a faith unknown to Jesus or the prophets who preceded him, and unknown to the authors of the Bible.
Yet being good stewards of our anger, as individuals and communities, is an important skill that only comes with practice. Like our money and our time, we become better stewards when we realize our anger is a gift, not meant only for us, but for the ones with whom we are called to share. If we could tithe our anger to those who need it most, if we could spend just ten percent of our emotional energy for the people who are unjustly imprisoned, whose rights are trampled, who live in fear of physical danger, I believe we’d find that God satisfies our hunger and thirst for righteousness.
What do you think? Have you suffered from “outrage fatigue?” How do navigate the demands for action and outrage in your social media and faith life? What is the balance?