“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles” – Proverbs 24:17 (NKJV)
“But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee …” – Psalm 35:15 (NIV)
The Baseball World Series: October 1986
In 1986, the Boston Red Sox were in the 10th inning of the 6th game of the World Series, playing against the New York Mets and they were ready to win it all. I remember watching this game live, and as a native New Yorker, I was rooting for the Mets to win. It all seemed hopeless when Mookie Wilson of the Mets was up to bat and with a 3-2 count, and 2 outs, he hit a slow routine ground ball towards the first base line. It was an easy play, and seemed like the game was over, but when the Boston first baseman, Bill Buckner crouched to make the play, it passed through his legs and rolled into shallow right field. The Mets had a runner on 2nd base who ran home to score and to win the game, and the fans at Shea stadium and fans watching at home, went crazy with hoots and uncontrollable laughter for this incredible failure. This single fielding error forced the Red Sox to play Game 7, where the Mets went on to win the game, and to win the World Series that year.
Bill Buckner lived with the shame and stigma of it for a long time. So much so, that he moved away to Idaho, because he couldn’t stand the ridicule of the Boston fans everywhere he went. But a beautiful cavaet is that Mookie Wilson reached out to Bill Buckner, and they became friends for years to come!
The term “Buckner” was a newly created slang word, which came to mean. “failing at something which should be ridiculously easy.” A “Buckner” is often the cause for a lot of laugher and comedy. But poor Bill Buckner … He was so humiliated by it all, and he lived with the disdain of others, the laughing, jeering, and comedy of his ground ball error.
The term “Buckner,” can be a light hearted and humorous response to a gaff or mistake, especially when we make fun of ourselves making blunders, but using the term “Buckner” when relating to others can be a cruel response, in which we get satisfaction at their failures. This is SCHADENFREUDE, and something that God warns us about.
The Danger of Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude is defined as a sense of joy and pleasure derived when seeing or learning about the misfortune, humiliation, failure, or trouble of another. It’s a word taken from two German words, Schaden (Harm/Damage), and Freude (Joy). Phonetically pronounced, it’s a four syllable word (and I can hear Hanna Greenberg, my German tutor from Minnesota, saying it with perfect diction! )
Shäʹ-dɛn-froid-ɛ.
But what is it with this secret pleasure at the failure of others?
Why do we get happy at the failures and mistakes of people? Even more severe is the question, “Why do we hope for and want to see others fail?”
Justice: When someone who has acted arrogantly or when someone morally fails and experiences resulting misfortune, it can trigger a sense of satisfaction and gladness based on a false sense of perceived justice. We may have the feeling that they are “getting what they deserve!” But from the perspective of our faith in Christ, we need to realize that we don’t receive what we deserve for our sins and failures before God.
Comparison: We need to face the reality that we’re naturally inclined to compare ourselves to others. When we see others experiencing misfortune and consequences for their failures, (especially others whom we perceive as holding higher positions than ourselves), this can give us a false sense of our own elevation of character, thinking that we are better than others. The follow through of this aspect of Schadenfreude is almost always – Gossip, gloating, and repeating the story. In our pride, we think that we would never do the thing that others have done. We need to beware of self-righteousness, thinking that we are above committing such failure and sin before God.
How do we overcome Schadenfreude?
We need to consider the fact that as believers in Christ, our own failures and sins, have been forgiven. In these situations, we need to apply the “Golden Rule.” (Ref: Matthew 7:12), ie. to do to others as we would have them do to us. We need consider how another person is being affected by their failures, and consider that their might be reasons behind their failure. Every broken life has a story about how they got there. These might be living with the shame and torment of it all , and they’re needing others who will seek to understand and pray for them. This practice can foster godly empathy and compassion in our hearts, reducing reduce the urge to find pleasure in their misfortune.
Have you received Christ as Lord of your life? If so, you’ve been forgiven of all your sins and failures by the work of Jesus on the cross – So then let’s not gloat over the failures and sins of others. Let’s extend grace, mercy and pray for them. It is a fact … God’s favor rests on such who practice these things.
May God remind us about this!
