Here are six characteristics  lethal/toxic to relationships, families, churches, and organizations. I’ve seen it play over so many times, I wanted to capture it one succinct post. You might have a different list, but this is the list that makes the most sense to me today. I battle these things by practicing confession, prayer, silence, reading of Scripture, and exercise. These are the demons and dragons we face on a daily basis. These are some of things that God wants to rescue us from.

Cynicism. The level of skepticism that pervades most generations in the U.S. is remarkable. One would think that an affluent society like ours would be more prone to optimism but something shifted to a degree that cynicism is the default setting for many. I think affluence makes us lazy and entitled and cynicism takes over. I’m trying not to be cynical when talking about cynicism. Hope is one of the most important virtues. I’m absolutely convinced of this.

Apathy. Call it indifference or selfishness, but apathy towards the plight of others appears in conversations frequently. One of the more challenging aspects of Jesus ministry is the manner in which he challenges the way we see the world and the people of the world (friends, enemies, strangers, etc.). In fact, I think seeing like Jesus is often harder than acting/believing like Jesus.

Laziness. The curse of technology–we don’t know how to work as hard as past generations. We’re busy, and we have a lot of things happening but the level at which we are working hard on things that matter–things that last–is staggering (work-at-home-mommas excluded).

Anger. The church I serve (Otter Creek) is offering a class right now “I Hate You But I’m Working On It”–it’s been very popular because people are honest that we don’t know what to do with anger, and strong emotions. From lashing out to close friends/family to road rage, just beneath the surface, anger rages like a violent storm. I think the more secrets you have the more angry you are.

Ignorance. I’m just gonna say it plain: I think we think we know more than we actually do. We think that because we’ve read one book, or one blog, or listened to one talking head that we actually know what the right thing is to think about a particular subject/issue/debate. The truth is, most of us (including myself) don’t put in the hard work on issues. We’d rather believe what we believe lest study and investigation lead us down a different path. In politics and theology, it’s amazing how many “self-declared” experts are emerging. Instead of “faith seeking understanding” we’ve become a sound-byte society in which everyone is talking but very few are actually having a conversation.

Insecurity. The internet is a good example for this one. Some people are 5 ft. 10 in. in real life. On-line, they are 6 ft. 9in. Online vehicles (twitter, Facebook, blogging, etc.) allows us to to do great things (share stories, memories, photos, ideas) but is also allows to create an identity that isn’t exactly consistent with who we really are.

I’ve found one remedy for all of the above: The resurrection of Jesus is the great antidote. Think about it, Jesus’ path looked like a cul-de-sac but it ended up being the path to real life. It’s like before Jesus we were all zombies, sleep-walking and he came along and said, “WAKE UP. GOOD NEWS. A WHOLE NEW WORLD IS ON ITS WAY. CAN YOU SEE IT? CAN YOU FEEL IT?”

No more room for cynicism, anger, ignorance, insecurity, laziness, and apathy. These are all passing away. Their time is up.