Serves You Right: Schadenfreude

We have an expression in Filipino that gloats over another person’s misfortune, “Buti nga sa yo” (literal translation: serves you right). 

What happened to Mr. Ramon, a haughty, arrogant man, dramatizes this. He was rude to people below his status. He wore only designer clothes and shoes. His car: Mercedes Benz, no less. 

On his way to a client call one afternoon, his car rammed into another car. In his Armani suit, he got down and lamented his plight. His office mates, who were in a separate cab, saw Mr. Ramon’s predicament. Instead of helping him, they all laughed and exchanged high fives, “Buti nga sa yo.”

 

There is a German word that accurately describes the group’s attitude, Schadenfreude (meaning, damage-joy).  It captures that satisfied feeling we get when someone, who has repeatedly wronged or belittled us, runs into trouble.  

In 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 (NLT), Apostle Paul could have reacted with Schadenfreude when a member of the church, who had committed a grievous sin, was disciplined and punished by the church members. But his attitude baffled the people. He said that the man had already repented and that disciplining him was punishment enough. 

He encouraged them instead: “. . . it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him . . . when you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit, so that Satan will not outsmart us. . . “  

Paul’s message to all followers of Jesus: we should not gloat over the misfortune of those who oppose us. In fact, in a message by Pastor Moe three Sundays ago, he encouraged us to do the opposite to the unlovable.  One of the many verses he quoted was Romans 12:14, "Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them."  

The next verse can make any believer quiver: |If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer,that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? (1 John 4:20)

Truth to tell, it is extremnely difficult not to revel in Schadenfreude. But it is our (those of us who have been born again and now living under the saving grace of Christ) mandate to keep trying . . . and trying.