what is hanging in the balance now?

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust their lives to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.

1 Peter 4:12-19; NRSVue

Wherever you are as an American on the political spectrum here, you’ll have grave concerns about the past, present and future. We have lived in a privileged existence, and it looks like that is under great stress at this time. One thing most Americans agree on is that democracy itself is at stake here. There is even a so-called Christian disdain against democracy, aligned to some extent with the Christendom of the past, focused on implementing a “Christian” order. That is another subject in itself.

Another matter is just where our priorities should lie as followers of Christ, Christians in that sense. We now live in a different setting in America compared to those who lived at the time of Peter’s writing. Rome was then in charge with no ands, ifs or buts about it. In the rule of Caesar, there was no representation of the people. Now we have that, and as Christians we do well to advocate for what we consider to be good. We still have that freedom at the moment, but the problem now is that everything seems more than less partisan in the limited two-party system here.

What has happened in my lifetime since the 1960s and gaining momentum from the 1980s and 90s up to the present day is a culture war which initially was a reaction to the government telling a Christian institution that it could no longer bar Blacks from its spaces. That was the basis of the founding for the “Moral Majority.” After a few years abortion became the issue which they found united and gave momentum to their cause. The fallout from this race based, abortion, religious freedom platform has been great. There is little to no incentive to work with the other side on issues like abortion, and all kinds of other issues. We’re at a place now where there’s one side spurred on by Christians who want to take over entirely, be the ones in charge, with others in line according to that. So it’s a challenging time since there are a host of Jesus-followers and others who are opposed to that.

What is hanging in the balance now? I think for us as Christ-followers, it’s a time of purging, salvation for us in that sense. What does our faith tell us about the good we ought to be doing? Where do our priorities lie? Is it about our own protection and freedom? Or is it with the values which Jesus taught us: to love our neighbor, to be the neighbor when anyone is in need. To welcome the stranger, the refugee. To advocate for fairness for all. To stand against racial and gender discrimination, particularly right now against the transgender community. To stand against war and the destruction of innocents such as is happening in Gaza, both Israel and Hamas utterly failing in their use of horrific violence.

So all of that and more are important to us as Christ-followers. We won’t be uniform exactly in how we think and approach such matters. But there are certain things that forever should mark us. We don’t advocate force of any kind. We rather appeal by words, and mainly by works, by what we do. We are willing to stand with those who are considered the dredge of society, in the way, a nuisance or even danger which needs to be pushed to the side, cancelled, even eliminated. We stand for the humanity of all. We look for solutions to problems, not imagining there will be perfection in such in this life but pushing toward that ideal.

With that, what do people see in us? Democrats? Republicans? MAGA followers? Patriotic Americans? You fill in the blank. Rather, shouldn’t they be seeing people who are not known as any such, but rather as Christians in the sense of which Peter talks about above? Followers of Jesus, as Jesus taught and lived in the four gospel accounts? Yes, that. That alone is our identity from which we live. There’s no doubt that we all have our opinions on political matters of this world. But we are in allegiance to one Lord, Jesus. Our following of him means that all peoples are embraced as those whom God loves. We continue on in that way, expecting difficulty, maybe even suffering. But the only way we’re to live in this life as followers of Jesus.

how to overcome a condemning heart, a guilty conscience

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God, and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

1 John 3:16-24; NRSVue

If we take moral responsibility seriously in this life, we’re going to realize there’s always something that we did wrong and something else that we should have done, and something else we may have not done good enough in our minds. There are a host of ways that we can feel guilty and condemned.

We are told that laying down our lives for the believers in our midst means helping those in material need, doing what we can, be it big or little and everything in between. It is then evident that indeed God’s love resides in our hearts. Through adherence to the simple commandment to believe in the name of Jesus and to love one another, we can indeed overcome our guilty conscience (see helpful NET footnotes in link above), and condemning heart which can often plague us.

The commandments we’re to keep are again simple: believe in Jesus’s name and love one another. As we do that and seek to do all that pleases God, not only is our heart set at rest in God’s presence, but we have boldness in prayer that God will answer our simple, humble prayers. Our hearts set free to live in the love of God in Christ, a love intended for all.

the fight we’re in (and not in)

I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you but bold toward you when I am away!— I ask that when I am present I need not show boldness by daring to oppose those who think we are acting according to human standards. Indeed, we live as humans but do not wage war according to human standards, for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. We are ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.

2 Corinthians 10:1-6

This is the beginning of one of my favorite parts of Scripture, 2 Corinthians 10-13. Some scholars have seen it almost as an addition or like a separate book from what precedes it. 2 Corinthians is one of my favorite books or letters of Scripture. I like what other scholars argue, that 10-13 actually goes well with the rest.

It’s really hard to transport a passage written in a different time with frankly a different ethic among Christians. Back then it would easily mean something quite different than what it seems to mean in too many quarters today. Just go to media and look at the pictures and rhetoric. Violence, violence, violence, and I’m not only referring to the destructive words, but at least symbols of action. “God and guns” are often paired together. Because of that, when we go to Paul, it’s hard to imagine that he’s much different. But in reality, he was entirely different, his gospel and teaching with the other letters of the New Testament, rooted in the life and teaching of Jesus as set forth in the four gospel accounts.

Even so, Paul’s words here do seem quite heavy handed. It was a different culture, the gospel breaking through but not yet changing a patriarchal culture, a difficult task any place and time. Just the same it was NOT cultic mind control, nor was it control of any kind. There’s a voluntariness beginning in the commitment of baptism which is basic to faith in and the following of Jesus, certainly such in community so that there’s an accountability each one to the other, the leaders having special responsibility in that.

Paul was about persuasion, clearly evident in his letters and in Acts. He used good sense (see Philemon), but he was not into psychological manipulation of others. He spoke the truth unvarnished and plainly, both in weakness and in love. It was the Spirit which made the difference through the message spoken and lived out of Christ crucified.

Instead, what we’re seeing today and for some decades now, and probably off and mostly on in history is Christians engaging in the methods and machinations of the world. Political power and control, what ends up amounting to political idolatry. What is baffling is how the Christians who talk the most about demonic possession and discerning that are the ones who are among those most caught up in what is quite the opposite of Paul. They and others follow a long line of sad examples dating back to the time of Constantine. But the church fathers who preceded that drawing from Jesus and the rest of the New Testament are quite the opposite.

Prayer. Scripture, the Word, the heart of that: the gospel. Community in Jesus, of learners, doubters, and followers together in the love of Christ which is never coercive. A grace which gives us space and enables and helps us to choose what is good, to love all others in the way of Christ. That was what Paul and those with him, the apostolic band were all about. Yes, humble participation in politics for the good of everyone especially on the local level, along with state and national, etc., surely included.

It’s necessary to say what they weren’t about. It definitely wasn’t physical coercion, following certain “super” charismatic leaders which we see Paul in confrontation with in 2 Corinthians 10-13. It’s not about some heavy handed top-down authority imposed on everyone. It’s not about thinking anyone human is so wonderful or great. All stuff Paul was encountering. No, none of that. And we could add more of what it is and isn’t.

That’s what we as Christ-followers in community and individually have to hone in on, give ourselves to. Realizing that there will be real world consequences in doing so, meaning we’ll have to walk carefully in wisdom. Our goal and passion, to be centered in Christ, to see that Christ-life growing and maturing among ourselves, and from that in good works of love often in collaboration with others in the world.

training yourself to be godly

Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

1 Timothy 4:7b-8; NRSVue

No matter what, God has put it within our reach to be godly. Godliness carries with it the idea that humans should be human, that as image bearers of God they are meant to fulfill what humans are created to be (Genesis 1-2). Of course the fall as recorded in the story about humankind (Genesis 3) shows that this purpose and connection was broken. And indeed all of humanity along with creation groan, awaiting the day of full redemption in Christ. But until then, yes, we can take it on ourselves so to speak, only by God’s grace, but we can take it on ourselves to be godly.

This is solely from the gift of God in Christ, nothing more nor less. But what we do with that gift is the question. Faith opens the door to this grace, and we have to keep walking through that door, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Given the broken and fallenness of this world and existence, it won’t be easy. There will be ample opportunity to renege and retreat back into the obscurity of the way people deal with life, with all the problems and consequences which follow. But that will also be opportunity to do one thing: Train ourselves to be godly no less.

The rest of the passage puts what is being written in context. Though it pertains to a leader in the church, by nature leaders lead where followers are to follow. So even for us who are not leaders in a church fellowship, we can clip out words from the passage for total application for us.

Training is not easy. If we think we simply need some spiritual high, or just to know more of the Bible, while some of both are good in their place, we have to train ourselves with regard to all that is wrong, contrary to God’s will in our lives. We have to be willing to face the most difficult things and not flinch but deal with it. And above all, we do so as those in fellowship with God. It’s about love for God and for others, something we must never forget. Yes, and we receive the love as well. But that’s why we’re present. To be in fellowship or if you prefer, in communion with God and with people. To love and be loved.

Godliness is not something that will just drop into our laps. We have to train ourselves for that purpose. God will help us if we make the sustained effort. It must be a human endeavor into a God endeavor, what God is already doing. God will help us come whatever may. In Jesus our Lord.

are we to be like the father in Jesus’s parable of “the prodigal son”?

Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the wealth that will belong to me.’ So he divided his assets between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant region, and there he squandered his wealth in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that region, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that region, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate, for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

“Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command, yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’ ”

Luke 15:11-32

mercy triumphs over judgment.

James 2:13b

There’s more than one way to look at Jesus’s parable of the prodigal son. Here is a most interesting take, which I think is quite legitimate, one you’ve likely never heard or read. 

What happens when we’re with someone who is acting in a way that is unhelpful, perhaps even harmful and disrespectful? And when it’s a situation in which ethics are ignored or even scorned? How are we to look at this situation and such a person? How are we to act?

To begin with, it probably would be good to begin with ourselves. Or at least I can speak for myself in this. It’s so easy for us to have all but too good short memories. We don’t remember how in our lives we’ve done or been a certain way which was anything but helpful and good. We need to consider ourselves before anyone else.

But we also have to live in the present. What do we do with the situation, with the person? First of all, we’re not going to condone their conduct either explicitly or implicitly. We may not be called, nor should we necessarily rebuke it. Though of course we should be ready to help them if they reach out to us. But chances are that’s not what the situation looks like. They’re likely gladly wallowing in the life and attitudes and action which accompany that.

We should never condone what they’re doing, but we should always look at them with mercy and hope. Prayers and waiting. Being an example ourselves of the better way. And like the father in Jesus’s story, longing for change with love. The father looked and looked, and was more than delighted, completely overjoyed at his son’s return.

We should not look down on others but look for them instead. Yes, as Jesus tells us elsewhere that we’re to be perfect and merciful as his heavenly Father is, we must inculcate in ourselves that same heart and attitude. Showed in our words, often lack of words, attitudes and actions.

Not seeing ourselves as superior but looking at everyone as at least potentially family. That we’re in this life together in love. The love of God in and through Jesus.

we’re family!! in Christ

Then [Jesus] went home, and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”

Then his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Mark 3:20-21, 31-35; NRSVue

When it comes to our faith, there is nothing more essential or basic than family. God is our Father (and Mother), Jesus our Brother and we’re all siblings by faith in and through Christ. We’re to call no man on earth our father, and given the patriarchal error today and back in Jesus’s time along with the hierarchy that accompanies it, that’s more than understandable (see Mark, by Geddert).

Yes, Christ makes himself known to us directly but much more significantly than we realize and we might say in some respects more strongly through our relationships with each other. Didn’t Jesus say that where two or three gather in his name, he is present with them (Matthew 18:20)? Using our distinct personalities, and ourselves being total agencies in this, not just passively used, in the total life-giving and difference making presence of Christ.

Nothing more basic in our faith, and largely missed in all my decades as a Christian. God wanting to include all in God’s family of creation in this wonderful family of new creation, and God will do that, all eventually coming to repentance and faith (but that’s another subject). In and through Jesus.