I’m really challenged by this one. I think it’s been easier to maintain my Christianity in times of “humble means” more than “in prosperity“. When things get tight, I tend to quickly acknowledge I really have no choice BUT to trust in God; but in times of plenty, when I seem to be presented with a plethora of options, my reliance is at best tenuous. As strange as it sounds, I’d truly like to maintain the same integrity and faith of the lean years when I’m experiencing the fat ones.
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One of the telling things which testified to how off the beaten path from “mainstream” I’d become was when the first Harry Potter book and movie controversies began. I wasn’t opposed to the idea that this material was probably not suitable for young Christian minds, but more puzzled at discussions about what was “wholesome” and “acceptable” in comparison. I maintain the extreme position that NEITHER the evil Harry Potter nor the proclaimed-to-be-wholesome Tinkerbell will stand the test of God’s righteousness before the Great White Throne. Do you really think all things branded “Disney” will be welcomed through the pearly gates because they appear to be more “family-friendly”?
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One of the things that used to always irk me in the course of a typical television episode of MASH is that whenever the character of the priest asked if he could help, he was most often told to pray, to which he’d respond with something like, “Darn, that’s all they ever let me do.” In the greater reality of the spiritual realm, this is actually the most powerful and even empowering thing that can be done. But it seems like it’s given as little attention in our services together as the MASH doctors gave the priest.
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I guess this is a good time to launch into an election year tirade. For me that doesn’t mean the endorsement of any candidate or encouragement to support any of the myriad Christian political action groups in existence. For me it’s closer to delivering a fire-and-brimstone message to passionately remind my fellow Christians that we’re not actually citizens of ANY kingdom on earth, merely waiting for ours to come and replace all these interim pretenders.
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OK, this probably betrays something twisted deep inside me but I started laughing a bit when reading this verse. This is because one of my favorite sayings is, “The great things about ‘standards’ is there’s so many to choose from”. This isn’t just an oxymoron applying to the vagries of the computer industry, but Christianity at times. You can’t get all the Baptists to agree to a single standard, so what is the hope of attaining it churchwide? I think what Paul is talking about is the fact that we may all be on different points of the path, but the goal is the same.
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I suppose that how one feels about these verses betrays whether they’re a “glass is half-full” or a “glass is half-empty” kind of a person. Some might say if it’s this difficult for the likes of Paul, what chance do I have? But I find immense encouragement in the fact that such a role model advocates “reaching forward to what lies ahead“. Keeping the eye on “the prize” is a very useful tool for dealing with circumstances which, in the present, don’t exactly fit with how things will actually turn out in the future.
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Aren’t we supposed to love everyone? How can we love everyone if some are known to be “dogs“, “evil workers“, or “the false circumcision“? Doesn’t the very fact that we identify someone as belonging to one of these categories betray us as being basically unloving? Paul isn’t saying to love some and not others, he’s saying “beware“; and he’s not talking about withholding love, but to “put no confidence in the flesh“. Biblical love is not a blind love, but always defined and tempered by God’s Truth. We have to recognize when someone’s behavior is rooted in the flesh rather than the Spirit.
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