Healed or Broken?-Proverbs 17

Last week my Facebook news feed was filled with blog after blog and opinion after opinion regarding divisive issues that threaten to divide the Methodist Church making it no longer united.  This week my Facebook news feed is filled with status after status and blog after blog of people sharing their opinion of Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner.  No matter which side of the debate you fall on, persons from both sides have used language that divides, breeds hatred, and fans the flames of discontent.  It is easy to get sucked into such debates.  Your passions ignite and you believe you just have to weigh in with your opinion.  Then, someone disputes your opinion, you feel like you must come back with a defense and thus the snowball rolls and rolls and rolls and the only thing that has been accomplished in the end is your distaste for the people with whom you are debating.  Your heart rate goes up.  Your blood boils.  Your face gets hot.  Your mind becomes consumed.  It is not healthy. 

            Proverbs 17 has a few things to say about such things.  Vs. 14 states “the start of a quarrel is like letting out water, so drop the dispute before it breaks out.  Vs. 22 states “a joyful heart helps healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”  Finally, verse 27 states “wise are those who restrain their talking; people with understanding are cool headed.” 

            Certainly we are called to be prophets of truth; we are called to speak justice into an unjust world.  As an old mountain saying says “there is more than one way to skin a cat.”  Spitting words of hatred and condemnation is not God’s way.  So, the next time you’re scrolling through your news feed and you feel your face getting hot, your heart rate increasing, and your blood boiling, don’t stop, keep scrolling.  Do not be sucked in.  Do not let your joy be stolen.  You will not change anyone’s mind by sharing your opinion and engaging in the debate.  Minds are changed in the midst of relationship and experience.  Minds are not changed through the quarrels of Facebook. There are times and spaces for these types of discussions.  There are ways to go about them where we seek and stand on common ground. The wisdom of the Proverb is to say that it is not in the quarreling, it is not in the breaking of the spirts, and it is not in the hotheaded. 

            When you see these things.  STOP and pray.  Pray for those who you perceive are your enemies.  Cry out to God just as David did in the 17^th Psalm.  Do not engage!