Outrage is ineffective at best, destructive at worst

I have witnessed a lot of outrage lately. And from the outside of outrage looking in, I make this observation.

Outrage is frequently premature; we seem to get outraged at the nature of things that we go on to discover wasn't actually the nature of things at all. And even more frequently, it is my observation, outrage seems to be quite ineffective.

But then again, I don't know. I don't know what effect people are trying to have with their outrage. Because there rarely seems to be a desired outcome of the outraged other than to let out rage.

Or, maybe, to out outrage the outraged.

I have found myself wondering lately, because I spend a lot of time working with people who have a lot of pent up rage, rage that in many cases, after I hear their heartbreaking stories, seems reasonable even if unhealthy, but I find myself wondering, are people letting out rage to deal with rage they have found no way to let out?

Are these mass explosions of outrage more symptom than disease?

I know my observations are heavily influenced by my love for Jesus. I try to follow his example on things like outrage. And here's what I know about that dude. He was hung on a cross, a completely innocent man, nails driven into his hands and feet, mocked by his killers and the rowdy spectators looking on, and all he offered was humility and forgiveness.

There was no outrage.

Oh, there will be those who will rightfully point out that Jesus could get outraged.

And yes he could.

Jesus drove money changers and sellers from a temple because they were exploiting worshippers. But Jesus was IN the temple with his outrage.

Jesus frequently got outraged with the Pharisees and religious leaders for their hypocrisy, but Jesus was WITH the Pharisees with his outrage.

Jesus got outraged with his disciples when they wouldn't let the little children come to him. But he was WITH his disciples and he was holding the little children with his outrage.

Jesus was always in the arena with the people he was defending with his outrage, not screaming his outrage a half world away from the arena itself.

In the end, though, when it came time for Jesus to defend all of us, humanity as a whole, when much of humanity then and thousands of years from then would look on, it was humility that Jesus embraced, not outrage.

Was that a gift from Jesus or a lesson?

For me, personally, I think the latter. Jesus has placed a great commission on my heart and on my life, a large piece of that commission is to spread the story of his humble kind of love for me and for you, and outrage just seems to me to be a poor tool at best to spread that story.

A very destructive one at worst.

I am sure there will be some who will be outraged by this article. And I know there will be a point to it. Chances are, though, I won't get that point.

That man who humbly died on a cross for me, he has witnessed me do some pretty horrendous and outrageous things in response to his sacrifice for me, and yet, he has never once expressed outrage toward me.

Not. Once.

So again, I am sure there is a point to outrage.

I confess, though, I really don't get it.