Exposing Bitterness

Don't be bitter. We read it. We hear it. But we end up bitter. We feel slighted or unappreciated and it becomes sin for the Christian because it turns to anger and resentment all distracting us from our call to pursue Christ and reconciliation.

This story out of Seattle has me thinking about how we hide our bitterness but it eventually is found out. A barista thought he would start an anonymous site releasing his bitterness on customers and even his boss. Once he was outed as the author he lost his gig. While he doesn't seem too worried about - funny side is that he is a hip hop artist in the making - it reveals our cultural comfort with bitterness and enjoying seeing other express theirs.

I get bitter. Fo' sure. I feel slighted, underutilized and disrespected. But it is sin. I should not allow life and experience to turn into bitterness. I should run to Christ for my answer and hope. When I don't, I wreck things and dishonor what I am called to. Thankfully I don't have a bitter pastor blog but I imagine in some of my conversations others might recognize the bitterness. I should expose it openly and repent of it. That is how we should live, in repentance and helpless dependence on Christ.

Too often we are like this blogger however. We think we can profit from our bitterness.

The church is not all that different from coffee culture. One great quote from the Seattle Times article is this, "Yes, the barista world is a small, gossipy world." Insert "Christian" in place of barista and boom, conviction. Let us be people that lean into our bitterness with repentance and open dialogue toward resolution. Face to face, in community rather than through our secret outlets and false identities.