A demon of retaliation stalks America.
Granted, it’s been around the US for a long time, but recently it’s become far more active. We are seeing the spirit of retaliation like never before, a whole new scale of things in both breadth and depth. It’s new in the sense of how shocking and egregious it is, coming from sources you simply could not imagine previously.
Granted, we’ve come to expect this from government agencies. The concept of accountability has been turned on its head; it’s an Orwellian reversal. The only accountability is one-way — we to them. If you haven’t experienced it directly, brace yourself. Even the training of those in direct contact with the public has embraced this retaliatory spirit. They are ordered to be abrasive with us.
But have you seen how this has arisen also in business? We are awash in petty lawsuits from various thin-skinned professionals and companies. The very notion of “customer service” is considered passe, a quaint notion from ancient times. Can you believe a consumer relations department assessing monetary penalties on customers who dare to complain?
And yet, sometimes you can’t blame them. Customers themselves have become petty and vindictive. Your average Joe Consumer will demand an entire company be shut down and the employees jailed for the most minor disappointments. No, I mean that people have literally demanded just that. The ancient Lex Talionis is quite tame and friendly by comparison.
This goes far beyond mere bad manners. It’s more than a threat to civilization; this is a broad evil seeking to devour human existence. This is precisely the kind of misery and spite that Satan has always sought to implant in human society. It represents the kind of “violence” we see in the Bible when the prophet Jonah prophesied against Nineveh.
This thing is devouring America. The mouth of Hell is wide open, swallowing the whole nation. Do you see how this guarantees people will transgress every part of Biblical Law and allow Satan to absorb every blessing God offers? This is the snarling beast at the very core of Western Civilization.
Obviously this is what’s behind the New Testament teaching of patiently enduring trials and tribulations. If you feel drawn to the shalom and the calling of Christ, you have to know that this demands we pull away from retaliation. This has nothing to do with a vigorous defense of your feudal domain granted from God. One of the hallmarks of Ancient Near Eastern dominion was the grand placidity in the face of roaring spite. It came from a willingness to absorb inconsequential losses by making it obvious they didn’t hurt.
We don’t promote the snarling arrogance of contempt, but an honest rebuke that asks, “Are you trying to hurt my feelings?” When your feelings aren’t attached to the things a fallen world scrambles to hold, you aren’t going to rage at small losses. In the mind of Christ, it’s not a matter of correcting and coercing fools, but calling their attention to how foolish their concerns are. Learn the distinction between guarding something entrusted to you by God and scrabbling over something our Lord can easily replace.
Live shalom; be ready to shrug off the petty bitterness of people who are consumed by demonic powers they can’t comprehend. It’s going to get far worse before the Lord is finished pouring His wrath on America.
