The first is what might have been a mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremony, titled “La Cène Sur Un Scène Sur La Seine,” a pun playing on the fact that Cène, ("Last Supper"), "Scène" (stage), and "Seine" (the river that runs through Paris) all sound alike.
Or maybe that title was actually invented by media, and not the organizers, and maybe it wasn't intended to be a reference to the Last Supper at all, but rather a reference to French food and Dionysius, the God of wine. (The Olympics, of course, originally honored the gods of Mt. Olympus.) Or maybe it was intended to refer to DaVinci's painting -- or to one called “La Cène Sur La Seine,” which hangs in the Pompidou Museum -- but wasn't intended as mockery.
And then, as if it isn't hard enough to process what we ought to be mad at, there was the saga of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif. Khelif was disqualified last year from the IBA championship because her testosterone levels were too high.
Or maybe not: the IBA -- which isn't recognized by the IOC -- backed off on its claims, saying only that she failed "a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential", and was "found to have competitive advantages." (It's not hard to discover that the boxer she would have faced in the finals of the event she was disqualified from was Chinese. The IBA is a Russian organization. Make of that what you will.)
In any case, Khelif has never been found to be ineligible by the IOC, and so was allowed to compete. She was born, lived as, and has always been a woman. But when Italian boxer Angela Carini took a punch to the nose and withdrew from their fight, the Olympics were accused of turning the beating of women by men into a spectator sport.
So who are we supposed to be mad at? It's hard to know, isn't it? But, obviously, we're supposed to be mad. The media tells us so. Social media. Conservatives think we should be mad at the liberals, and the liberals think we should be mad at the conservatives. You have to pick a side, right? WWJYA? -- Who Would Jesus Yell At?
Or maybe we don't have to be mad at anyone. Maybe we shouldn't be, in fact. Maybe one of the reasons that people are walking away from Christianity in droves is that anger is our default setting. We're always running hot, looking around for someone to be mad at.
James wrote, two thousand years ago, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires." I think we really need to hear that again. I think we really must take it seriously and live it out.
Human anger doesn't accomplish what God wants accomplished in society. Everyone does anger. Everyone is looking for a fight. What Christians bring to the table is something that we only get from the gospel, from "the word planted in you." Knowing Jesus means we can choose to listen. To ask questions. To really hear what people are saying. We need to listen before we speak. Sometimes we need to listen instead of speaking.
I think if James was with us today, he'd say you don't have to have a hot take on every news story. He'd say you don't have to post an opinion every time something happens in the world.
If there was mockery intended in The Scene on the Seine, then those who put it together are still people. They're still loved by God, and what I haven't heard in any of the "Christian" hit pieces is an ounce of love.
Imane Khelif is a human being. So is Angela Carini, who had to say goodbye to the Olympic dream she worked so hard for. They aren't just positions on a spectrum, pawns in an ideological battle. There aren't always easy answers and black and white positions to stake out. Life gets messy. And so sometimes we have to just shut up, really try to listen to people, and refuse to bow the knee to those who say we have to have an answer.
Maybe we'll find out more. We'll find out, maybe, about injustice, corruption, abuse. Maybe we'll find out that everyone was innocent of wrongdoing. If so, will those who came with angry hot takes apologize? Or will they, more likely, delete the posts that embarrass them and turn their attention to the next outrage in the news cycle?
But we know, human outrage and anger doesn't save. It doesn't help. It doesn't bring about true repentance and it doesn't transform lives.
The gospel can. Love can. Love that gathered broken people to a table together and offered his body and blood for them. Love that took the blows of outraged, angry people and didn't resist, didn't fight back.
Will people in our world see that love from us? Or will they only see our outrage and anger?
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