Opus 2026-285: Running Out of Cheeks, Part 2 of 5, Go Figure

If we are to turn the other cheek at all times how do you explain Jesus cleansing the temple.  People try.  I have heard some great attempts.  When I was in seminary I wrote a paper about the time Jesus cleansed the temple and made the comment that Jesus got angry.  My professor went warp 9.  “Jesus did not get angry!”  I guess I was supposed to assume that He was quietly walking from table to table asking for permission to turn them over.  I have had people tell me that the whip He made was just to get the animals moving faster and HE used it gently.

How about Jesus telling the disciples to disciples to buy a sword.  People like to quote this verse from early in His ministry.

Luke 10:4 (KJV) Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.

That is fine but they seem to stop reading there.  Do they leave out the rest because they only know what someone taught them?  Do they ignore the rest because their mind is made up?  Later Jesus reminds them of this,

Luke 22:35 (KJV) And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.

Then we get to the twitchy part that no one wants to see:

Luke 22:36 (KJV) Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take [it], and likewise [his] scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

Notice that the instructions have changed.  Why?  Because the situation has changed.  What get me here is that the scholars all seem to say He did not mean a literal sword.  I find that one of those convenient proclamations that are designed to back a person’s theological position rather than reflect what they are reading.  How do you interpret that figuratively?  

To be continued...

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Opus 2024-230: Neighborly

(Luk 10:29 KJV)  But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

It’s too bad that Jesus wasn’t around in the days of modern advertising campaigns.  He might have given a different answer.

As I checked the mail this morning, I noticed an envelope addressed “our neighbor.”  I had a moment of interest, because when the people across the street moved in, they sent us a note addressed that way.  That interest quickly dissolved when I realized what was designed to look like a handwritten address was really just a font available to everyone who has a word processor.

My second point of information came by checking the postmark, Minneapolis.  Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t think of people living in Minneapolis as my neighbor.  Jesus might have disagreed.  In fact, when he talked about the neighbors, he was probably including just about everybody in the world because we are supposed to be concerned about everybody in the world up to a point.  With that concession in mind, I repeat, I don’t think this applies to people living in Minneapolis who are selling windows.

Feel free to disagree.  You might be my neighbor.  Window companies based in Minnesota need not apply.  

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Opus 2023-169: Either/Or

Sin has two broad categories.  One is the condition we are born in as humans.  It has different names such as original sin, sinful nature, carnal nature, etc.  The other is usually plural, sins, because it refers to actions on our part where we come short of the glory of God.  This second category is my focus.  Again we have two broad categories.

We have sins of omission vs sins of commission.  One type refers to the things we are supposed to do and don’t.  The other refers to the things we are not supposed to do but commit anyway.

The Decalogue gives us examples of both shall and shall nots.  For instance, you shall honor your father and your mother.  You shall not murder.

When Jesus was asked to identify the Greatest Commandment He summarized the ten in all shall’s.  

(Luk 10:27 KJV)  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

While we all are guilty of both kinds I think that in certain circumstances we trend one way or the other.  I tend to not do things that I should in life as a whole and it bleeds over into my spiritual life.  My wife tends to be the opposite.  It leads to a lot of stimulating conflict.

The blessing in it all is that God is willing to forgive.

(1Jn 1:9 KJV)  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

That is a promise I can cling to.

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Opus 2022-214: Vive la Difference or Die Heretic

I find myself wondering if I need to watch more TV or go to more movies.  I am not sure that I have any clue to the raw material that makes up modern thinking.  My personal opinion is that I am better off that way but how do I understand my fellow Americans?

It is so easy to think other people have values and priorities like we do.  They don’t.  That is sometimes what makes like interesting.  Other times it is what makes life maddening.  The differences can be as simple as the impossible reality that some people like liver and onions.  I have a child like that.  I would blame it on my wife’s French blood but she doesn’t like liver.

People see the world differently.  I know someone who is more than a little bit color blind.  He can’t tell the difference between pink and gray.  Purple fits in that same category.  It is a simple thing but it means he will make different choices than I would.  There are also entire nuances of life that he will never know.  

Some are brought up with different values.  Consider the difference between a guilt culture and a shame culture.  In one you are guilty for breaking the rules because you broke the rules.  In the other you are only guilty if you are caught and the main shame is that you failed to get away with your criminal behavior.  It makes a difference in your entire scope of ethics and everything downstream from those standards.

These kinds of differences are what are pulling the country apart.  The moral framework being taught today is a do-your-own-thing approach that puts each individual at the throat of their neighbor.  Maybe it is time to introduce something simple, like the Ten Commandments.  Or we could even start with what Jesus gave as the greatest commandment,

(Luk 10:27 KJV)  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

It would be a good place to start.

Maybe I don’t need to go to movies.  Maybe I should stick to what I know.

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Opus 2015-438: Basic Beliefs: The Other Cheek, part 2 of 4

You need to consider all of scripture before you make a point of doctrine or draw a line in the sand.  Everyone is familiar with the words of Jesus when he sent out the twelve to preach.

(Luke 9:3 KJV)  And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.

And He repeated it in the next chapter when He sent out seventy.

(Luke 10:4 KJV)  Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.

Most people who broadcast those verses will not mention what Jesus said at the end of His ministry, just before the crucifixion. 

(Luke 22:35-36 KJV)  And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.  Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

The situation changed.  The instructions changed.  The basic principles were the same.  They still had two cheeks but now they also had a sword.  Interesting.  Complicated.  I don’t think the swords were just for opening letters.  And keep in mind that in the spirit of modern liberals the Romans had assault-sword bans that prohibited the possession of swords by non-Romans.  If you are going to ban swords based on chapters 9 and 10 then you will also need to ban cash, shoes food and an extra coat.

Then consider the often repeated call to reprove and rebuke.  In fact, one of the spiritual gifts, exhortation, involves those as well and encouraging.  How can you correct someone if all you do is turn the other cheek?

I don’t ask these questions as someone who is constantly getting into fights to defend my honor but as someone who is constantly biting my tongue and walking away.

To be continued...

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Opus 2013-70: Book Review: When Bad Things Happen to Good People, part 4 of 7

This started as a book review but I am going to go into more detail because I see a lot of important distortions going on in a book that has been quoted frequently on both sides of the divide between Christians and Xians.

He makes a very bold statement early in the book. 

“There is only one question which really matters:  why do bad things happen to good people?  All other theological conversation is intellectually diverting; somewhat like doing the crossword puzzle in the Sunday paper and feeling very satisfied when you have made the words fit; but ultimately without the capacity to reach people where they really care.” page 6

So his question, spurred by his personal suffering negates all of the minor questions like, “What is the meaning of life?” and “What happens after I die?”  This doesn’t even make allowance for the big questions from the Hebrew portion of scripture, like,

(Micah 6:8 KJV)  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Or New Testament question like,

(Luke 10:25 KJV)  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

It would seem to me that these are not just”intellectually diverting” “theological conversation.”  It would seem to me that they are the reasons people are drawn to religion.

But then, I am not a famous author.

To be continued...

Kushner, Harold S.  When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  New York:  Schocken Books, 1981.

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