Negaholism

I think we are addicted to negativity.  As we move through Easter, this bugs me because I want to be addicted the message of resurrection, not death. It seems our culture lives the other way.

Think about it.  Bad news sells papers.  Good news doesn't.  I fly a lot these days.  Almost every day, virtually every flight takes off and lands without incident, unlike the cars I heard about on the traffic report driving to the airport. But an incredible safety record in the airline industry never makes news.  If one plane in 100,000 slides off the run way, it makes headlines everywhere.  That's human nature.

We love to hear bad news about famous people. Brittney Spears is an industry. Tabloids thrive on that stuff.

Churches are not immune.  I can track traffic to my blog and predict that if I rant about something, traffic will go up.  If I complain about something, more people will read it.  When i write a message, it gets a bigger jolt if I spend 80% of it on the problem and 20% on the solution (test it out when you preach, pastors). Controversy sells.  If you are against something, you will gain a bigger audience.

Here's what bugs me.  This is the opposite of what I actually want to build my life on.  My guess is that it's the opposite of what you want to build your life on too. 

Try being against something in your marriage over and over again.  Intimacy killer.  Try being controversial at work over and over again.  Fired (unless your job rewards you for that!).  Try stirring up controversy or being critical of God in your relationship with God.  Peace flees.

When Jesus rose from the dead, He rose to bring forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, humility, kindness, wholeness and grace.  All the stuff I long for.  All the stuff people say they care about, but apparently don't consume much of.

As I think about what to preach about/blog about, I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.  I just don't want to live of negaholism any longer. Really. 

Do you see this?

Comments

[Steve Wells]

Carey,

I think part of the reason people are attracted to the negative in the news and elsewhere is that it somehow makes them feel better about themselves. For example, if your life is in turmoil at work, with a rocky relationship, will you want to hear about people who have their life together or about important events where everyone got along and had a big group hug at the end? No, you want to read about the famous person whose life is more screwed up than your own, or about the tornado that wiped out a bunch of houses. Then you can say to yourself, well my life might be bad but it is not as bad as that! Hey, misery loves company, don't you know.

I agree that it is too bad that so many people feel that way. I'm always surprised how hard it is for people to give other people compliments, as if by doing so they somehow detract from themselves. It's almost like they feel that everyone only has so many compliments they can give out and they don't want to use them up too soon.

But enough of the negative, what's the solution? I think the problem lies in part with a lack of contentment. It's hard to be positive when you believe you are not getting everything you think you deserve, when others (who obviously don't deserve it) are getting those things. Unlike some people, I don't think the consumer society is specifically to blame. There are lots of people in our society who are content.

So I guess the challenge is how to respond to all the negativity? Do you not play along? Encourage people who are down? Recognize the good things God has given you and be content? Probably all of these things. Anymore ideas?

[laurie lamb]

I think the root word is fear - fear of loss, that's why we hold on too tight, fear of exposure - that's why it's easy to focus on others bad fortune, fear that we might get lost in the shuffle. The one thing we need have no fear of is that God will give up on us. That He loved us so much he was willing to sacrifice his most Beloved for our salvation.We are meant to walk with certainty and darkness always wants to take that away.

[Dave and Gen Whyte]

Contentment brings great gain..even in a negative painful time we are so blessed and strengthened as we trust Christ, looking to the positive side of things..My father-in-law wrote a book "Fear Destroys" and I know that is so true.The enemy is out to destroy us, but Christ is Alive and he is here to be our Saviour.Praise His wonderful name ..