Greetings
Dear Reader,
From the
inside of faith my faith seems obvious.
From the outside I am sure it appears absurd at times. I often find that I ponder why those outside
cannot hear us when what we offer is so sweet and beautiful to me. I think there are several reasons for
this. I think most of those reasons can
be addressed and corrected.
Before I
dive into this I wish to make a disclaimer.
I fail often at the things I write about. I strive to be like Christ but have deep fissures
in my being that drag off the path more often than I like. By God’s grace I learn to care for others and
sometimes can show them the beauty of my faith.
With the
desire to address this issue comes a clear understanding that often as Christ
followers we are “doing it wrong.”
Christ made it very clear that there is a path to being heard but it is
not often by speaking. It is more often
by action. What spurred my desire to
write this was a quote a friend of mine posted.
It follows.
"For I
was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled
water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you
needed more clothes. I was sick and you pointed out the behaviors that led to
my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved."
- Richard Stearns of World Vision paraphrases Matthew 25.
This touched
a place very deep in me. I hope you will
walk with me for a bit as I attempt to reconcile my faith and the need for
social justice so deep in our society.
They are supposed to be one and the same but the dichotomy grows. I hope this can be a conversation that makes
us all more aware of why Christians are so hard to hear.
Wishing you
joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So
Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of
Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new
and old things from his great treasure store."
Posts
I have been considering this in light of the upcoming elections. It is a concern because it reflects on the core values of our society as a nation as it relates to my culture as a believer which varies greatly from the former. In short, I cannot expect a society modeled after Greco Roman modes of law and governance to adhere to the value system of a different kingdom- namely that of God. Many suggest that this nation is a Christian nation, and I agree that many of our founders were believing men who desired freedom to choose to worship God . However we are so far removed from those men's characters in regard to our national identity and our foundational documents are so vague regarding just what Creator they were referring to (Our constitution is as specific about who God is as any AA meeting manual). With the advent of the aggressive agenda to achieve the separation of church and state coupled with the increasingly secular and idolatrous culture shift, it no longer makes sense to me to try and hold our society or the members of it to a "Christian" standard. Indeed, believers and Christian leaders themselves are so far to the left or right of Jesus' teaching that what a Christ follower is exactly would be difficult for our culture to define based on it's adherent's practices. What I am getting at is simply this: Social Work which lacks a witness of Jesus Christ may be beneficial to the body, heart or mind, but not the eternal soul. Requiring of our social now secular structures (governments, courts, legislators, etc.) to maintain a Christian standard or even reflect anything remotely Christ like is hypocritical at best since many in the Body are unwilling to themselves. My thought is that if we intend to change the culture outside of the Church, we are missing the point. Jesus was in the business of changing hearts, and the only way to see this happen is to be a genuine witness of Jesus in relationships and in daily practice in our communities. Jesus confronted the hypocritical religious culture and was compassionate towards the broken. We have to do the same with an understanding that each changed heart that God cultivates through our relationships may yield another, 100, 1000 or even countless more. This is how cultures change ao that people become a law unto themselves, maintaining a holy standard of living without the need fr external punishments and rewards to motivate them. The world needs o see what a surpassing reward is fellowship with God by His Spirit. Until we believers acknowledge and reflect the proper value of Christ, we cannot expect this fallen world to. In conclusion, While I like your friend's paraphrase of scripture, it truly and only applies to believers. The secular man lives and dies by the law of survival of the fittest- it is the law of lawlessness. But the believing man must live according to the law of love. It makes no sense to the secular man's intellect, but once a heart is pierced with love, it can never be the same. It can no more be secular. Only then will the human heart understand that water given to a thirsty man is an act of mercy on his flesh and which benefits his flesh, but cannot profit the man' thirsty soul unless that giving is done in the love of God and that love is expressed through the truth of the gospel which oaths only water that satisfies the soul.
ReplyDelete