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Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

This blog will be written from an orthodox Christian point of view. There may be some topic that is out of bounds, but at present I don't know what it will be. Politics is a part of life. Theology and philosophy are disciplines that we all participate in even if we don't think so. The Bible has a lot to say about economics. How about self defense? Is war ethical? Think of all the things that someone tells you we should not touch and let's give it a try. Everything that is a part of life should be an expression of worship.

Keep it courteous and be kind to those less blessed than you, but by all means don't worry about agreeing. We learn more when we get backed into a corner.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Opus 2012-27, Christian Cliches: Casting Your Pearls

“Don’t cast your pearls before swine” is good advice but does not go with our modern multi-cultural crowd.  Before you get too upset about such an insult as inferring that people are pigs, understand that these are the words of Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild.  It turns out He is not as meek and mild as many people claim.

This is part of the Sermon on the Mount which begins in Matthew 5 with what are called the Beatitudes.  What is also ignored is that it comes right after the section that people love to quote.  You first find,
(Matthew 7:1 KJV)  Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Our world loves this verse.  They don’t love what comes a few verses later:
(Matthew 7:6 KJV)  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
It would seem that Jesus is telling us we need to make decisions that are close to judging.  We are given the responsibility to decide who the pigs are.

Don’t feel like you need to let everyone know everything.  Don’t feel that you need to let little children wash your good china.  Don’t entrust your precious children to the public schools. 

Pigs make good bacon but they make terrible judges at the cake competition at the county fair.

homo unius libri

2 comments:

  1. My wife gets irritated with me when I use the "pearls before swine" quote, even though it's usually to warn her about users to whom she's being overly generous.

    ReplyDelete
  2. When I get a chance to preach or teach I often find myself saying, "I'm not the one who said this, get mad at Jesus, not me." In fact I think I have used that line on this blog.

    One of my favorite lines comes from the movie "Mary Poppins" when she replies to the little boy who tells her she is wrong, "You know best, Michael."

    Actually, after 35 years of marriage, I guess the best response is, "Yes, dear."

    Grace and Peace.

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Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.