Let's Not Be Casual About Cruelty

We see it on the freeways (road-rage), on the playgrounds (degrading those who are different than we are), in homes (spousal abuse), workplaces (using cruel terminology), and in incidents that populate the evening news. The idea of “man’s inhumanity to man” (see here and here) is so thoroughly ingrained in our society, that we almost don’t think about it anymore.

In Psalm 71:4, the Psalmist wrote: “Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man” — Any kind of cruelty is indeed wicked and ungodly. It is contrary to righteousness and the spirit of Christ. It is also easy, taking little effort at all to do or say something that is heartless and insensitive — and we’ve all been guilty of cruelty at one time or another.

The singer Asaph observed in Psalm 74:20: “the dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty“ — It’s sad but indeed true that cruelty represents the darkness within each of us — that part of ourselves that has turned away from the light of God. The more we turn toward darkness, the more cruelty we are capable of doing. For a moment, let’s think of an extreme example — Judas the turncoat apostle. We wonder how Judas could casually betray Jesus to His enemies, knowing that they would brutally torture Christ and execute Him. Luke provides us with this inspired answer: “Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot” (Luke 22:3). When Judas opened the door of his heart to the lord of darkness (Satan), there was no longer anything he was incapable of doing, no matter how ruthless. Brethren, the same can happen to any one of us.

Solomon wrote in Proverbs 12:10: “The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel“ — The cruel person can find a way to do harm even while appearing to do good. The Scriptures tell us that “foolish talking” and “coarse jesting” are “not fitting” (Ephesians 5:4). Humor that comes at the expense of another is not really humorous at all.

If we think about it as we ought, it shouldn’t surprise us that God’s word says: “The merciful man does good for his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh” (Proverbs 11:17) — In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word “Chamets” — translated “cruel” — literally means “leavened with sourness.” Because of  a desperate attempt to assuage his own pain by causing pain to others, a person who is bitter (or sour) within, many times lashes out with hateful words and cruel acts. If allowed to fester, any “root of bitterness” can completely separate us from God (Hebrews 12:15; cf. Acts 8:23).

Beloved let’s not be casual about cruelty. Instead, let’s see it for what it is — evil — and resist the impulse to engage in it — even when cruel deeds or words are directed at us. Let’s remember the example of our Lord (1 Peter 2:21-23) and consider these poetic lines:

“Curse or cry or call it unfair,
But be thankful to the grave
That you were the one who received the hurt,
And not the one who gave.”

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets