Comments on: Christians’ Humility and Law Imposition http://scott.yang.id.au/2006/09/christians-humility-and-law-imposition/ Faith, Technology and Randomness in Life, According to Scott Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:17:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: castlesinthesky http://scott.yang.id.au/2006/09/christians-humility-and-law-imposition/#comment-45541 castlesinthesky Fri, 29 Sep 2006 14:15:58 +0000 http://scott.yang.id.au/2006/09/christians-humility-and-law-imposition/#comment-45541 Politics and policy is one thing, but action is quite another. Does the church in it's "pro-life" stance offer alternatives to abortion and stem cell research or is legislation the only way? Do we establish support programmes for unwed mothers to uphold, train, and protect them - or do we, instead, condemn them and their families instead? Do we provide for research and support for treatments & therapy for people who suffer from crippling, degenerative diseases - or do we inform them that to commit suicide to escape their suffering is a sin, just as it is to use clinically dead human embryos to heal desperately sick, but still very much alive, people? In our eagerness to enforce Christianity-and-law, have we undermined the integrity of Godly grace and compassion? Remember the pharisees who attacked Christ for healing a crippled woman on a Sabbath. God's love is not be limited by the law He was forced to give us in our ignorance and rebelliousness - any more than a mother is to be disciplined because she doesn't adhere to the 9 o'clock bedtime she sets for her kids. And why do we imagine that it is our place to hold people against God's law and find them lacking? Are we better than others? Has God raised us above our brothers & sisters - or perhaps even Christ Himself? Yet God paid the same price for every last one of us: Christ crucified on the cross. He also gave us all the same commands - to love Him, and to love one another. Some may say - "look, I'm not a homosexual, I'm not a sex worker, I'm not a drug addict, I don't smoke, drink, look at pornography - I'm not on welfare, I even give to charity." But the trick is, is that we honestly couldn't say that if we were put into the same position under the same circumstances as these "lost sheep" we wouldn't turn out for better or worse. How can we qualitatively and quantitatively assess ourselves when we are, in fact, perhaps only fortunate in life? Statistically, we could have been born among the majority of the world's population who live in poverty fighting desperately just to survive and to find something in life worth surviving for. If we compare ourself to God's standards, everyone of us would only get a single grade: F(ail). We're only still enrolled because we are in a remedial class headed by the only one who got perfect grades, Christ... and this is the only lesson He wants us to take to heart: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11) But what does He mean by a yoke? What yoke did God place on Christ - that, in turn, He would ask us to take upon ourselves? Perhaps instead of the saddles and stirrups and spurs and blinkers and whips required to tame wild beasts - we are now compelled and even obligated as foster children are to their adopted Father; Who, no pressure or anything, just happens to be the King of the world. Politics and policy is one thing, but action is quite another. Does the church in it’s “pro-life” stance offer alternatives to abortion and stem cell research or is legislation the only way? Do we establish support programmes for unwed mothers to uphold, train, and protect them – or do we, instead, condemn them and their families instead? Do we provide for research and support for treatments & therapy for people who suffer from crippling, degenerative diseases – or do we inform them that to commit suicide to escape their suffering is a sin, just as it is to use clinically dead human embryos to heal desperately sick, but still very much alive, people?

In our eagerness to enforce Christianity-and-law, have we undermined the integrity of Godly grace and compassion? Remember the pharisees who attacked Christ for healing a crippled woman on a Sabbath. God’s love is not be limited by the law He was forced to give us in our ignorance and rebelliousness – any more than a mother is to be disciplined because she doesn’t adhere to the 9 o’clock bedtime she sets for her kids.

And why do we imagine that it is our place to hold people against God’s law and find them lacking? Are we better than others? Has God raised us above our brothers & sisters – or perhaps even Christ Himself? Yet God paid the same price for every last one of us: Christ crucified on the cross. He also gave us all the same commands – to love Him, and to love one another.

Some may say – “look, I’m not a homosexual, I’m not a sex worker, I’m not a drug addict, I don’t smoke, drink, look at pornography – I’m not on welfare, I even give to charity.” But the trick is, is that we honestly couldn’t say that if we were put into the same position under the same circumstances as these “lost sheep” we wouldn’t turn out for better or worse. How can we qualitatively and quantitatively assess ourselves when we are, in fact, perhaps only fortunate in life? Statistically, we could have been born among the majority of the world’s population who live in poverty fighting desperately just to survive and to find something in life worth surviving for.

If we compare ourself to God’s standards, everyone of us would only get a single grade: F(ail). We’re only still enrolled because we are in a remedial class headed by the only one who got perfect grades, Christ… and this is the only lesson He wants us to take to heart: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11)

But what does He mean by a yoke? What yoke did God place on Christ – that, in turn, He would ask us to take upon ourselves? Perhaps instead of the saddles and stirrups and spurs and blinkers and whips required to tame wild beasts – we are now compelled and even obligated as foster children are to their adopted Father; Who, no pressure or anything, just happens to be the King of the world.

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