Does Bible Reading Promote Democratic Thinking?
Yesterday (Sunday, July 15), we had some family members come for dinner in celebration of Joey's 17th birthday. Toward the end of the evening, during the conversation, a couple of family members remarked that as I am getting older my thinking is becoming more "democratic". This was in response to my comment that sometimes it does take a "village" to survive in life. We need each other. I had said I had gotten this thinking from reading the Bible which says, "When one member of the body suffers, we all suffer." When I brought up the fact that the Bible says, "We are all one body," there was also much scoffing.
I believe the strong negative response I got from that remark is because people immediately think you are excusing lazy, undisciplined and immoral living. As a matter of fact, when I brought the subject up again later with my husband, he brought up crooks and criminals and even terrorists!
I was not talking about us - Christians - as being "one" with crooks, criminals, terrorists, or even with religious yet unregenerated people (those not truly born again). As I told my husband, even Jesus said to the religious leaders whose religion was a mere outward display, "You are of your father, the devil." Paul also cautions against having close ties to unregenerate people: "Do not yoke yourselves together in a team with unbelievers; for how can righteousness and lawlessness be partners? What fellowship does light have with darkness? What harmony can there be between the Messiah and B'liya'al? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement can there be between the temple of God and idols?" (2Cor. 6:14-16)
So this morning I looked up the Scriptures again that talk about us being one body. I noticed that the context of the scriptures has to do with Jew, Gentile, slave and free people. It also has to do with differences in spiritual gifting.
The Church in Corinth was very carnal. They were full of division. Paul wrote to exhort them to be united under one Father: "Nevertheless, brothers, I call on you in the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah to agree, all of you, in what you say, and not to let yourselves remain split into factions but be restored to having a common mind and a common purpose." (1Cor. 10)
So who is a member of this One Body - the Body of Christ? Jesus said we would know them by their fruit. But the church in Corinth did not have very good fruit. As a matter of fact, Paul says, "As for me, brothers (in Corinth), I couldn't talk to you as spiritual people but as worldly people, as babies, so far as experience with the Messiah is concerned. For you are still worldly! Isn't it obvious from all the jealousy and quarrelling among you that you are worldly and living by merely human standards?" (1Cor.3:1,3) There was even immoral sex going on - not in the whole congregation, but in some members. Yet the rest of the Church didn't bat an eye at it; as a matter of fact, they still felt pride in their supposed spirituality. (1Cor.5:1,2) And then Paul says something to the Corinthians that would shock most people today - Christians included. He says that we are to judge those who claim to be Christians that are a part of our community! Read it for yourself.
1Cor. 5:12 says, "For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Isn't is those who are part of the community that you should be judging? God will judge those who are outside." The Christians in the Church at Corinth should have judged the man who was committing sexual immorality with his step mother.
Paul says, "In my earlier letter I wrote you not to associate with people who engage in sexual immorality. I didn't mean the sexually immoral people outside your community, or the greedy, or the thieves, or the idol-worshippers - for then you would have to leave the world altogether! No, what I wrote you was not to associate with anyone who is supposedly a brother but who also engages in sexual immorality, is greedy, worships idols, is abusive, gets drunk or steals. With such a person you shouldn't even eat!" (1Cor.5:9-11) Wow! Those are strong words!
He goes on to say, "Don't you know that unrighteous people will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don't delude yourselves - people who engage in sex before marriage, who worship idols, who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse, who engage in active or passive homosexuality, who steal, who are greedy, who get drunk, who assail people with contemptuous language, who rob - none of them will share in the Kingdom of God." (1Cor. 6:9,10)
None of this sounds like Democratic thinking. It is the Democrats who want to make homosexual marriage legal. A couple of days ago I saw a bumper sticker that said, "God is not a republican - or a democrat." That may be true, but I wanted to write on that bumper sticker - "but God IS pro-life!" How could anyone say that they think it is okay with God to cut off a new life before it is even born? Even if they think it is not a human baby - they cannot deny it is a "potential life", and God is for life - not against it.
So, when I say that the Bible teaches that we are all "one body", and "when one member suffers, all the members suffer with it," Paul was writing about the unity between members of the Body of Christ being united in Him, not divided by ethnicity, social class, or spiritual gifting. That is the context of his statements. The preceding verses (1Cor. 12:1-13) are about spiritual gifting and the verses following his statements about the oneness of the body are about gifting (verses 28-30). Prophets are not above the rest of us. Teachers are not above the rest of us. People with gifts of healing are not above the rest of us. Being Jewish ethnically does not make a person superior. Being a slave does not make a person in the Body of Christ less important to the rest of the Body. Paul writes, ". . .the parts of the body that seem to be less important turn out to be all the more necessary; and upon body parts which we consider less dignified we bestow greater dignity; and the parts that aren't attractive are the ones we make as attractive as we can. . .Indeed, God has put the body together in such a way that he gives greater dignity to the parts that lack it so that there will be no disagreements within the body, but rather all the parts will be equally concerned for all the others." (1Cor.12:22-25)
I still feel that so many churches today have such an emphasis on the "prosperity message" that was not taught in the early church. We do not have "slaves" in our culture in America today, as they did in Paul's day, but it is still important to note that Paul did not write on how a slave could become financially independent! The gifts of God are not dependant on our financial status in life - but in many churches, a persons financial status is considered a gauge of your spirituality. Finances are considered a manifestation of God's blessing. Whether or not a person tithes is said to be a gauge on ones' spirituality. That is not what the Bible teaches. Paul writes, "I may give away EVERYTHING I OWN - but if I lack LOVE, I gain nothing." (1Cor. 13:3) Some Churches today - in teaching prosperity have a reverse emphasis - tithe, tithe, tithe, give money, give more money! They are sure to pass the collection plate every service - but is love emphasized every time the church assembles? Is patience, kindness, humility and repentance emphasized in every service?
As always, when I blog, one thing leads to another - and one thing I am wondering about now is the connection to being a slave in Paul's day with being poor in today's economy. I hope to blog about that - but not today:-)
And getting back to the title of this blog, I must also say that Democrats are no better when looking for monetary handouts - they are called taxes. The Democrats seem to think they are superior to Republicans in areas of care and concern for the poor. But their attitude of superiority betrays their motives. Their lust and greed for YOUR money betrays their motives. And their willingness to divide and cause jealousy among the poor against the rich betrays their motives (after all, one of the ten commandments is "Do not covet your neighbors goods").
So I will have to look further into the issue of Oneness in the Body. It is true that no man is an island unto himself. It is true that we are all dependant upon one another - we need each other. It is true that when one member suffers, we all suffer - that all the parts of the Body should be equally concerned for all the others. But that does not mean that we excuse those that are not conducting their lives in righteousness. And yes, we are to judge those among us that say they are Christians.
I believe the strong negative response I got from that remark is because people immediately think you are excusing lazy, undisciplined and immoral living. As a matter of fact, when I brought the subject up again later with my husband, he brought up crooks and criminals and even terrorists!
I was not talking about us - Christians - as being "one" with crooks, criminals, terrorists, or even with religious yet unregenerated people (those not truly born again). As I told my husband, even Jesus said to the religious leaders whose religion was a mere outward display, "You are of your father, the devil." Paul also cautions against having close ties to unregenerate people: "Do not yoke yourselves together in a team with unbelievers; for how can righteousness and lawlessness be partners? What fellowship does light have with darkness? What harmony can there be between the Messiah and B'liya'al? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement can there be between the temple of God and idols?" (2Cor. 6:14-16)
So this morning I looked up the Scriptures again that talk about us being one body. I noticed that the context of the scriptures has to do with Jew, Gentile, slave and free people. It also has to do with differences in spiritual gifting.
The Church in Corinth was very carnal. They were full of division. Paul wrote to exhort them to be united under one Father: "Nevertheless, brothers, I call on you in the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah to agree, all of you, in what you say, and not to let yourselves remain split into factions but be restored to having a common mind and a common purpose." (1Cor. 10)
So who is a member of this One Body - the Body of Christ? Jesus said we would know them by their fruit. But the church in Corinth did not have very good fruit. As a matter of fact, Paul says, "As for me, brothers (in Corinth), I couldn't talk to you as spiritual people but as worldly people, as babies, so far as experience with the Messiah is concerned. For you are still worldly! Isn't it obvious from all the jealousy and quarrelling among you that you are worldly and living by merely human standards?" (1Cor.3:1,3) There was even immoral sex going on - not in the whole congregation, but in some members. Yet the rest of the Church didn't bat an eye at it; as a matter of fact, they still felt pride in their supposed spirituality. (1Cor.5:1,2) And then Paul says something to the Corinthians that would shock most people today - Christians included. He says that we are to judge those who claim to be Christians that are a part of our community! Read it for yourself.
1Cor. 5:12 says, "For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Isn't is those who are part of the community that you should be judging? God will judge those who are outside." The Christians in the Church at Corinth should have judged the man who was committing sexual immorality with his step mother.
Paul says, "In my earlier letter I wrote you not to associate with people who engage in sexual immorality. I didn't mean the sexually immoral people outside your community, or the greedy, or the thieves, or the idol-worshippers - for then you would have to leave the world altogether! No, what I wrote you was not to associate with anyone who is supposedly a brother but who also engages in sexual immorality, is greedy, worships idols, is abusive, gets drunk or steals. With such a person you shouldn't even eat!" (1Cor.5:9-11) Wow! Those are strong words!
He goes on to say, "Don't you know that unrighteous people will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don't delude yourselves - people who engage in sex before marriage, who worship idols, who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse, who engage in active or passive homosexuality, who steal, who are greedy, who get drunk, who assail people with contemptuous language, who rob - none of them will share in the Kingdom of God." (1Cor. 6:9,10)
None of this sounds like Democratic thinking. It is the Democrats who want to make homosexual marriage legal. A couple of days ago I saw a bumper sticker that said, "God is not a republican - or a democrat." That may be true, but I wanted to write on that bumper sticker - "but God IS pro-life!" How could anyone say that they think it is okay with God to cut off a new life before it is even born? Even if they think it is not a human baby - they cannot deny it is a "potential life", and God is for life - not against it.
So, when I say that the Bible teaches that we are all "one body", and "when one member suffers, all the members suffer with it," Paul was writing about the unity between members of the Body of Christ being united in Him, not divided by ethnicity, social class, or spiritual gifting. That is the context of his statements. The preceding verses (1Cor. 12:1-13) are about spiritual gifting and the verses following his statements about the oneness of the body are about gifting (verses 28-30). Prophets are not above the rest of us. Teachers are not above the rest of us. People with gifts of healing are not above the rest of us. Being Jewish ethnically does not make a person superior. Being a slave does not make a person in the Body of Christ less important to the rest of the Body. Paul writes, ". . .the parts of the body that seem to be less important turn out to be all the more necessary; and upon body parts which we consider less dignified we bestow greater dignity; and the parts that aren't attractive are the ones we make as attractive as we can. . .Indeed, God has put the body together in such a way that he gives greater dignity to the parts that lack it so that there will be no disagreements within the body, but rather all the parts will be equally concerned for all the others." (1Cor.12:22-25)
I still feel that so many churches today have such an emphasis on the "prosperity message" that was not taught in the early church. We do not have "slaves" in our culture in America today, as they did in Paul's day, but it is still important to note that Paul did not write on how a slave could become financially independent! The gifts of God are not dependant on our financial status in life - but in many churches, a persons financial status is considered a gauge of your spirituality. Finances are considered a manifestation of God's blessing. Whether or not a person tithes is said to be a gauge on ones' spirituality. That is not what the Bible teaches. Paul writes, "I may give away EVERYTHING I OWN - but if I lack LOVE, I gain nothing." (1Cor. 13:3) Some Churches today - in teaching prosperity have a reverse emphasis - tithe, tithe, tithe, give money, give more money! They are sure to pass the collection plate every service - but is love emphasized every time the church assembles? Is patience, kindness, humility and repentance emphasized in every service?
As always, when I blog, one thing leads to another - and one thing I am wondering about now is the connection to being a slave in Paul's day with being poor in today's economy. I hope to blog about that - but not today:-)
And getting back to the title of this blog, I must also say that Democrats are no better when looking for monetary handouts - they are called taxes. The Democrats seem to think they are superior to Republicans in areas of care and concern for the poor. But their attitude of superiority betrays their motives. Their lust and greed for YOUR money betrays their motives. And their willingness to divide and cause jealousy among the poor against the rich betrays their motives (after all, one of the ten commandments is "Do not covet your neighbors goods").
So I will have to look further into the issue of Oneness in the Body. It is true that no man is an island unto himself. It is true that we are all dependant upon one another - we need each other. It is true that when one member suffers, we all suffer - that all the parts of the Body should be equally concerned for all the others. But that does not mean that we excuse those that are not conducting their lives in righteousness. And yes, we are to judge those among us that say they are Christians.
posted by Laurie T at
10:35 AM
1 Comments:
Hi,
Its been a crazy last couple months and things are finally starting to settle down.
I enjoyed reading your blogs at work but I didn’t get the chance to reply. I just got internet hooked up at home tonight so I wanted to make sure to let you know how much I enjoy reading your blogs.
I was out with a group of friends and one of them talked about a tv show that she watched and the topic was brought up about ghosts. I personally have never seen a ghost but they told stories of things that they have seen. This really puzzles me and hearing my friends talk about this made me very curious so I went home and tried to study it but I was not sure how to go about it. I looked in the index of my Bible but it didn’t have listed under ghosts or spirits. I don’t know how to start a study when the topic isn’t listed in the index. When I talked to my dad on this he told me that it’s the same concept as physic’s. That scares me for some reason. I know that Catholics believe in purgatory and I guess I don’t know what this is. I have never learned anything about this and thats not in the index of my Bible either. I am guessing because its made up but I can’t be to sure. I don’t trust buying any book on this topic without knowing the author and I am not very familiar with any good authors yet. If you could give me a pointer that would be great.
I enjoyed reading about your blog on Democratic thinking. I liked to compare what your Bible says vs mine. Its neat! It made me think about helping the poor. It is talked about in the bible a lot and giving to the poor and helping the needy. Do you think that this follows the same standard as judging brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we only supposed to help poor Christians? This really confused me because I would love to give time to charity but I see the people I would be helping and it turns me off. For example, I just found out that Miranda (and her family) are living in the homeless shelter in Menomonie. I want to give Shawna and William but the money would only help them for a short period of time because William is still not working and I don’t have much to give. I believe that my prayers will help Miranda grow up to be a good person but I struggle knowing that she is being raised by lazy people that don’t work and its hard for me to give to them when they don’t help themselves.
It’s a lot to think about. I am going to get going now.
Let me know what you think.
Jess :)
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