Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
I love the comments left in part one of this post. Thank you!
The two themes that I found were:
1 You need to determine if it is your responsibility
2 Loving your neighbor as yourself.
Although I do struggle with the concept of when it is my responsibility or not, the “love your neighbor as yourself” statement really hit home. The phrase “Christian Police” came up a few times. I realized that many times I find myself thinking like that, like somehow it is my responsibility to right the wrongs, in myself and others. But along with that I found myself doing that, not anytime I saw something wrong, but anytime I see something wrong that is in turn hurting or robbing others of what God would have for them. I am learning more and more about God’s desire for us to act justly as believers and fight injustice, well I hate the injustice that I see so many times that occurs to others because of someone else’s sin. I feel, right or wrong (I am not sure yet), that when such an injustice occurs I am sinning if I see it and do nothing. However as I journey through this I do know one thing, it is in loving whoever I find myself being called to sharpen in the same love that God shows me and I want shown to me that real justice can occur, that a real wrong can truly be righted. Trying to right a wrong in a wrong way does not create justice or peace. If I am honest with myself about how I communicate and what my true motives are then I believe I can stand before God and know I honored Him with this part of my life. Knowing what to do and when to do it is still very hard but knowing how to is much more clear and it is in knowing the “how” that I feel more empowered to act when I feel the tug in my spirit. Rather it is because of my love for someone or because of an injustice occurring, I still will act as I must, “do unto others as I would have them act towards me”. In a love that represents the grace and mercy of God on us all.
12 comments:
Very insightful -- I wish things were much more clear in the Bible. Often I dream of God creating a popcorn trail for us to follow – it would make life so much easier to tell when we are off track; of course, it would also rob us of the freewill God, in His Wisdom and Grace, gave to us. I think the responsibility issue is very difficult to tackle. When I look at the life of Jesus, I can't help but imagine that He rarely was in a place where He would have seen no one sinning - the only time would probably be when He was alone praying since He probably would have known the secret thoughts of everyone around Him due to His God-nature. Despite seeing and knowing of everyone's sin, the Bible doesn't seem to paint a picture of a Jesus who randomly pointed out sin at every opportunity/moment.
Instead, Jesus says in John 14:31 that He "love[s] the Father and that [He does] exactly what [His] Father has commanded [Him]." I think that Jesus knew how to see fertile fruit and only correct when the time was right. Perhaps Jesus took heart to the wisdom in Proverbs 23:9, "Do not speak to a fool, for he will scorn the wisdom of your words" and elected not to waste time on the unripe as He tells us that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Is it possible Jesus did not rebuke every wrong He saw simply because He wanted to save His efforts for that which would produce fruit?
I also can't help but wonder if a lot of our urge to do something tangible to "right a wrong" is the result of our lack of belief in prayer and a lack of faith that God truly will reveal His ways to someone when we pray for God to show them their folley. Maybe it’s just easier to tangibly correct someone than to wait for God’s plan or trust God can tend to His flock.
Perhaps, the best demonstration of Christ's reaction to a world surrounded by sin was found in some of His last words spoken prior to dying on the cross - "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Perhaps that is the best, biblical approach to correcting those who we don't have a strong relationship with - like the crowd that crucifies us.
I state all this not to say we shouldn’t correct one another (albeit I do believe correction is best done among good friends when not an “emergency” situation), but to really inquire with you, what does the scripture say and what would Jesus do?
I like the justice theme in this post.
I also like the concern for love. I think that discernment and a willingness to allow for new information when confronting someone ties in with that love. There is always the possibility that what we perceive as wrong isn't when we know all the details.
I appreciate both comments. The justice theme was a surprise to me. I didn't realize that was a big part of what angers me many times.
Being willing to ask the questions and be wrong is huge. Just about every time I find myself in a situation were I am confronting someone I have done my homework. I like to make it a point to know all my information before going in. For my sake as well as theirs.
However Tim's point is well taken. Jesus was not running around policing. He did however speak up for those who had no voice and speak to those that were abusing others or "the system" which is when I find myself most passionate about confronting and seeing justice prevail.
if you keep talking about justice like this your going to turn into a flaming liberal. : )
The more I learn about some corporations, (not all) and the various systems we all navigate. The more I aware of structural injustice. For instance, one can't afford basic necessities working 40hr/wk at the minimum wage in most major cities. In some, like Los Angles, one can't even afford rent.
I agree completely. I am disgusted how the profits drives more then anything. I have no problem with profit but I despise obscene salaries and profits at the expense of the one working to give you that profit.
...wow we got off subject...ok with me!
There is nothing off topic about This. How are you going to confront the role you and I, or the people in any given congregation involve themselves in systemic injustice to greater and lessor degrees? (rhetorical question)
You mentioned that the justice theme surprised you. It surprised me at one time too. Then someone took the time to point out the large number of times that the theme of justice and inequality appear in the Bible, particularly the old testament. It's astounding. That fact that it surprised both of us, illustrates the fact that there is something wrong with the themes that are preached from the evangelical pulpit. Or maybe more accurately, what is not preached from the evangelical pulpit.
What I think differs in you and I is that I don't believe the church is doing a bad job in general. They are just missing a piece of the puzzle. We could easily be having this conversation in another time period about something else. The point is to be as rounded as possible, not focused on one thing and to be open to the fact that God calls different Christians to different things and so he will call different churches. We should not forget justice, or the poor, and let it be brought up more and become a part of our churches. However lets not leave any of the good the church does behind either and lets let God lead us to the specific ways we are called. I fight injustice in the church. Spiritual abuse, false teaching, wrong emphasis and bad theology are passions that I fight against which is what this blog post is about. We both believe in justice. Let’s never forget there are injustices occurring to more then just on group of people, and those matter to God as well.
I hear you. I agree that churches shouldn't be about just one thing. Not everyone is called to serve at a soup kitchen. (i don't)
Lets just say, and I think you'll agree, some themes (is theme a good word?) need to be omnipresent.
Not everyone is called to be on the worship team, but all are called to worship. And so it is with justice and a concern for the poor. I don't have to be involved in a "justice ministry" but I better make damn sure by vocation/business activities and the use of my personal finances reflect justice and a concern for the poor. As should the churches finances.
So bringing it back to the original post. Yah, what do you do when you see something that needs to be confronted? Justice is a part of that. So is mercy and love. Tough stuff.
Great stuff. I can't wait for the next one. Thanks for all the comments and discussion.
I didn't read the other comments, so maybe someone else said this already, but James 4:17 - "Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." Love ya brother.
The comments are very interesting on this - especially the questions about the validity of capitalism as a tool to right social justice.
I guess I show my conservative views when I say that our system in America is completely just - and even Biblical in my perspective. A corporation need only pay its employees what it must in order to get the talent it seeks. Most people in America don't earn minimum wage, even without Congress requiring a set wage. Corporations pay for what they intend to get. If they only paid minimum wage, the only "talent" they'd be able to hire would be a minimum wage worker.
Is this to say that miniimum wage workers are bad? No - some are minimum wage workers because of their circumstances. Some are minimum wage workers because of decisions they've made. In either case, there is always a potential to change, it just depends on the circumstances.
Where's the Biblical support for the fact that corporate execs earn six or seven digit salaries and the bottom workers earn pennies? One could point to the story of the master and his multitude of servants whom he gave each a talen to go earn money with. Some had great rewards, some had none.
To me, the issue of justice is always very tricky. I often find myself praising Jesus that I'm not in His seat - that I don't have to determine what is fair. Ideally, I don't think anyone would wish for someone to be a minimum wage worker. Ideally, we'd all be multibillionaires who never HAVE to work but get to choose to work. Such an ideal, however, has never and will never happen on this Earth. Say we followed a Socialist model (though it has NEVER worked) and redistributed wealth equally among everyone - is that justice? Is that justice to the corporate CEO that sacrificed his life for years to build a multi-million-dollar business? Is it just that a high school dropout that has never had the intestinal fortitude to complete anything should earn the same as a driven executive?
I'm glad that justice is not mine to determine.
Good comments Tim... Although I struggle with this very issue, I think you bring up some valid discussion points. However I would have to say that this satment,
"our system in America is completely just"
seems off. I have never seen in history a man made system that is completly just,becuase it is man made. Maybe it is the best way of doing it. Maybe it has the best advanatage to the many but to say it is "completly just" seems far fetch and unbiblical in itself.
... Justice seems to be the theme to discuss next though because this is one of the toughest issues I have tacked in a while.
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