Christian Living
mis·an·thrope (mĭs'ən-thrōp) – Hater of humankind
17th century French playwright Moliere wrote a five act play entitled Le Misanthrope, translated The Misanthrope. Its main character, Alceste, speaks with brutal honesty throughout the play, criticizing humanity’s faults as well as his own. I read the book years ago and have never forgotten its comedic honesty.
I believe we all feel very misanthropic from time to time. I know I do. It’s the common things that set it all off. Not being able to speak to a human being on the phone when you need help, or being transferred from one department to another only to come back to the same person who was no help to begin with. Having a major tax bill dropped on you. Paying big bucks to get your car fixed only to have the same problem return.
I know traffic does it for me. I no longer take any long trips at night because many cars now fall into these categories:
1) One headlight is on high beam, the other normal. They can’t turn off the high beam without losing both lights.
2) Many headlights are brighter than they used to be, especially those blue halogens.
3) Everybody and his brother drive an SUV. If you have a standard car, like me, their headlights are always level with your eyes whether they approach you or are in the rear view mirror. I have a headache before I’ve been on the road for an hour.
4) People don’t turn off their bright lights like they used to. Lack of courtesy.
Those are some that do it for me. And I haven’t even mentioned the people who drive at molasses speed in the passing lane, holding up traffic because they’re on the phone. These are the folks I’d like to tie down naked over an ant hill in the middle of the desert while I’m yelling, like Austin Powers, yeah baby!
Those are some I’ll bet everybody can relate to. But I’m sure you have your own personal grievances against humankind that can bring Stan out in you. Stan? Oh, that was a typo. I meant Satan. I saw that on Family Guy and just had to use it.
There have been times when I’ve thought that if I have to love mankind, I really don’t know how I’m going to accomplish it. That goes for liking myself as well. From time to time I make myself so sick of me that I wonder why God keeps letting me use up the air.
But when I think along those lines I realize that I’ve fallen into the trap of thinking that loving people, or doing anything else that God commands, depends on me alone as far as developing my altruistic side or refurbishing my attitude, even though any of that is good to do.
I don’t think I can love humankind except in Christ. Look at all the things the apostle Paul suffered at the hands of his own people. Yet he could wish himself accursed in their place for their sake. And how could he have attained such humility except in Christ? Once you put it in terms of loving humankind because of their value in God’s eyes, then you are able to do so because it doesn’t depend on you. And isn’t that the problem with most things concerning us, that we depend too heavily on our own strength?
Not to mention that love of this kind has nothing to do with feeling all gooey and warm about folks. The family setting is a good example. You can be positively ready to verbally blister your spouse or lay a few whacks on the kids. But you still love them. And they still love you when you’re the one doing something crazy.
So the way I see it, taking the weight off us as far as being able to love humankind involves the same exercise of faith as anything else. You love them for Christ’s sake, not because you’ve managed to work up a good mood. Personally, I have to work at that all the time. I might even need you to remind me sometime that I said it. Because the whole time I was writing this part of me kept saying, oh, man. You know you don’t practice this very well.
Maybe not. But I’ve tried the misanthrope thing and I didn't do that very well, either. It’s a yoke that nobody can bear.
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