Clothed in Cruelty: by Sherysse Morris

We live in an age of misinformation, where our attention and data are sold to the highest bidder. Our viewpoints are fed by algorithms and validated by hundreds of comments echoing what we already believe. It has become increasingly difficult to distinguish fact from distortion. What we accept as truth has become a moving goalpost, continually shifted to keep us engaged so that our data can be farmed and sold.

The divide between viewpoints is growing, while tolerance for alternative perspectives is becoming minuscule. We do not have to look beyond our own phones to find validation for what we believe, and every affirmation reinforces our certainty that we are right. The more validation we receive, the more vindicated we feel in our truth and self-righteousness. As validation morphs into vindication and righteous conviction, we must be wary that our vindication does not become vindictiveness.

Be wary, my friends. We must not become so vindicated in our truth that we give ourselves permission to clothe ourselves in cruelty. We must not lose sight of the human being on the other side of an opposing viewpoint. How quickly we become an angry mob with stones in our hands. We clutch stones hardened by our pain, ready to hurl them at anyone we have named an enemy. We spit words of bitterness, rage, and anger like venom, determined to paralyze the person standing before us. We cry out for justice with threats upon our tongues, as our pursuit of justice becomes justified vengeance.

As long as we believe our convictions justify us, there is no limit to the cruelty we will permit ourselves to inflict upon one another. We have allowed the poison of vengeance to seep into our hearts, corrupting justice into cruelty and conviction into condemnation. In John 8:7, Jesus said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” We must put down our stones and remember that it is through grace and mercy that we are redeemed. We are commanded to love God and to love our neighbours as ourselves. Jesus did not tell us to love our neighbours only when they agree with us, when they have never hurt us, or when they behave in ways we understand. He simply commanded us to love them. He removed any remaining loophole in Matthew 5:44: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” We need to turn away from our self-righteousness and look toward the One who is truth. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Truth is not a weapon entrusted to us to destroy others. We cannot claim to love God while abandoning His command to love our neighbours, for we are not without sin ourselves. We must choose God’s truth over our truth and the righteousness of Christ over our own self-righteousness.

Our hearts have been blackened by bitterness and poisoned by vengeance. We do not need another justification for our cruelty. We need new hearts. Ezekiel 36:26 tells us, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.” We were once foolish, disobedient, and hateful ourselves, but God saved us because of His mercy. Titus 3:7 says, “So that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” We have been made heirs through His grace. This inheritance is a gift, and that gift carries a responsibility to live according to whose we are.

Inheritance is the gift. Accountability is our response. As my mentor, Norm Sawyer, reminded me, “The more insight God gives you on accountability, the more you need to rise up to the level of accountability He declares you have.” This does not mean we will never feel the sting of pain or insults. It does not mean others will never harm us. It means we have a responsibility for how we respond as heirs of grace. We need to stand firm in our responsibility that comes with our inheritance. We must put down our stones, remove the garments of cruelty, and remember whose we are. When the world looks at us, will it see people vindicated in their own truth and clothed in cruelty, or heirs of grace, clothed in Christ?