So I was all set to sit down at my computer and rant in my blog about someone else’s bad behavior… and then I realized I should’ve done something about it.
At the time, my first instinctive reaction was to not embarrass the other person by making a scene; to be “diplomatic,” as we usually put it; to smooth things over. I let it go; let it bug me; and figured I’d get it out of my system by ranting about it later. What kind of passive wimpy crap is that?
Sometimes people need to be rebuked. Publicly. Immediately. Not because they need to be humiliated—though that is a side effect, and often it’s the effect that the rebukers are going for. It’s because someone needs to stand up and tell them that this is not okay. True, this can have another side effect—getting someone to angrily defend their bad behavior—but other people’s rage, real or imagined, is not an excuse for doing nothing.
If more people just spoke up against bad behavior the instant it took place, we might see a lot more reform. We’re so afraid on creating uncomfortable situations, of stepping on people’s toes… Jesus never had this problem. If he needed to cuss someone out, particularly Pharisees and disciples, he bloody well did it. But what did I do about it?… Nothing.
So, instead of ranting about what I was gonna rant about, I’m not. There’s no point in my complaining about things when I haven’t attempted to contribute to their solution.