Just a Reminder

Disagreements happen. I believe this is not a bad thing. Pretending to agree just to get along is so....fake. But disagreeing for the sake of creating an argument, well....it's unnecessary. I feel a little guilt there. Yet I gain a lot from disagreement. It challenges me to examine my faith, my behavior, and my relationships.  

There is a lot of toxic "Christianity" on the web. By toxic I mean it drives people away from faith rather than reaching them with it. It teaches false doctrines. It diminishes Christ's work of salvation on the cross. It casts doubts on God's sovereignty. It is hard to sit in silence sometimes.

The gentle reminder, kind of whispered in my ear = Prayer Is Important.

O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us,

in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront

one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work

together with mutual forbearance and respect;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Online Book of Common Prayer

A: It keeps no record of wrongs.

Q: What is love?

One woman was telling her story of divorcing her husband due to the hardness of her heart towards him. Years later, her granddaughter held her face in her hands and asked her, "Nana, did you ask for forgiveness from Papa {her grandpa} for divorcing him?" and she said, "Yes." "Did you ask my mama forgiveness for divorcing her dad?" and she said, "Yes." "Did you ask my aunts to forgive you?" "Yes," she replied. Then that little girl looked right in her grandmother's face and asked, "Why haven't you asked me for my forgiveness?" - Source

Yet it would be a million-zillion-billion times more important to teach the little girl to forgive her grandmother without making "Nana" beg for it.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, 

as God in Christ forgave you. - Ephesians 4:32

But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. - Matthew 6:16

The CCO vs The Merciful God

The Chief Compliance Officer is the person who makes sure a company is obeying state and federal regulations and internal policies and procedures. CCOs are a necessary part of modern corporate America and ever increasing layers of regulation and litigation. The CCO knows the rule book cover to cover and is responsible for training employees to comply with the rules.

Does the church need CCOs? In Bible-speak, a CCO is a Pharisee.

Pharisees believe in obedience to the letter of the law. Compliance.

One of my top 10 favorite verses:

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8

Do justice. To who? Jesus lives this verse. Do justice to the poor, the lame, the sick. Do justice to those the Pharisees excluded: whores, lepers, tax collectors, the demon possessed. Do justice on the the Sabbath. Do justice to the woman at the well, the bleeding woman, the dead girl, the adulteress.

What do all these people have in common? They are the weak. The victims. The abused. They didn't earn Jesus' mercy by obedience, but they received it by His Grace. It is absurd to believe Jesus would ever side with the abuser for the sake of keeping the law. It is beyond absurd to believe God would condemn an abused woman for divorcing her abuser.

The church does not need CCOs. It needs Jesus.

And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. Matthew 12:7

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Who's the Most Modest of Them All?

Are clothing choices an issue in third-world countries? What clothes I choose to wear or not to wear and how much skin I expose or don't expose seems very #firstworldproblems. Having a choice in what I wear is a luxury not everyone can claim, and (I'm guessing) many people cannot even choose here in the U.S
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What I do with my freedom of choice reflects the content of my character or, more likely, my character flaws. Do character flaws put me in the goat column? How about those who judge other people by how they dress? Another character flaw. Or men who blame their lusty thoughts or violent actions on women's attire? Another character flaw. That sinful nature is with us even when we try to do what is right.

The Amish use two German words I rather like;  hochmut (pride, arrogance, haughtiness) and demut (humility). The Amish, by having a strict dress code, have eliminated the freedom of choice. Their clothing won't reflect their character flaws (hochmut). Everyone in the community dresses the same and inequalities are eliminated. Therefore, demut is to blend in - to dress like those around you. To NOT stand out from the crowd.

The online modesty contests that break-out on Christian women's blogs make me shake my head. Inevitably they result in an endless one-upmanship battle. Instead of passing along encouragement and compliments they pass along gossip, judgement and condemnation. It's ugly and a perfect example of how clean we get "the cup" on the outside while the inside remains a dirty mess. (Matthew 23:25)