4. Never Putrid.
If we endeavor to keep these three qualities in mind as we engage others, they will keep us from descending into the putrid polemics that seem to define our culture’s approach to “rational” discourse: putridity.
So much of what we hear and read today pours out of corrupted hearts darkened by arrogance, rage, pride, fear and the rot of our decomposing sin nature. Lies, fear-mongering, cynical mockery, caricature, manipulation, gracelessness, straw-manning, cheap shots and rhetorical bullying dominate, especially on the internet. It is simply putrid.
For those of us who have been raised in Christ and indwelled by the resurrection Spirit of God, there should be nothing rotten or foul about what we say. As I’ve noted elsewhere, even our sharp words should only cut in the way a doctor’s scalpel does—in order to heal.
They should be words of life, not death, because we are made, and are being remade, in the image of the God who, by his Word, speaks life into existence.
In sum, we should follow Paul’s injunction:
8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator … . 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:8-10, 16)
This article on the Christian fight club was first published here on the Mere Orthodoxy site.
