Winning Ways: When Hiring a ‘Revenge Specialist’ Isn’t An Option

What do you do when people don’t treat you the way you deserve? When you work hard on a project and your boss takes the credit—and the year-end bonus? When you find out someone you thought was your friend has been trashing you to others? When your ex-husband won’t hold up his end of the child support?

One thing you could do is hire a “revenge specialist.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on this service a few years ago. For example, there was Lisa Patrock. Using insights from her college degree in psychology and sociology, Patrock designed specially tailored “revenge packages.” Cost: $35 fee plus reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred while carrying out the act of revenge.

Then there was Alan Abel, who dubbed himself the “Master of Retaliation.” For $25, he offered a two-and-a-half hour session called “Don’t Get Mad, Get Even.” The seminar included a manual of 100 of his proven revenge techniques, such as the one against a boss who offends you: Leave a loudly-ticking alarm clock in a gift-wrapped box on his or her desk. By the time of the article, he had trained about 1200 students in the art of retaliation—mostly jilted lovers and offended employees.

Now, before you ask me if I have their contact information, let’s spend a little time in the Old Testament story of David. A lot of his story is about patience in the face of injustice.

Last week we began a series on David. We’re calling the study “Full-Throttle Faith,” because that’s really the main lesson we get from all the stories about David’s life. We get to see a life wide open to God.

And that includes times when people were unfair to him.

Specifically, it was King Saul that treated David unfairly. Half of the book of 1 Samuel records no fewer than 16 attempts on David’s life by his paranoid king and father-in-law. The attacks began shortly after David killed Goliath, and they didn’t end until Saul died in battle a decade later.

In David’s full-throttle faith in God, he learned to have patience through this injustice. He learned that it was dangerous to take matters into his own hands and it was advisable to leave matters in God’s capable hands.

It’s not too late to join us for this sermon series through the life of David. Review the first sermon online and come this Sunday @ 10!

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