mnphysicists theological blog

Morality can be viewed through five difference windows, harm, reciprocity, ingroup, hierarchy, and purity. Such windows into a given moral worldview are pretty commonly described throughout the Old Testament. In contrast, I fully believe the words of Christ tend to reorganize and even cast significant aspects of such windows aside.

Having come across some really funky eisigesis in my noon readings today, where in the author tried to toss any number of Jesus teachings to the wind… I was left wondering why and how this can happen. In a lot of ways, I think the author was so tied into a specific moral world view, that he couldn’t tolerate what Jesus had to say. As such, the only way he could even listen to the message of Christ was to take some rather extreme eisegesis.

Lets roll on through some of the moral windows.

Harm/Welfare/Care

In the Old Testament times, folks were to set aside part of their tithe for the poor, likewise the harvest was not to be 100%, parts were to be set aside such that the poor could glean them. Jesus went much further, with his emphasis on individual service and blessings to the orphans, the widows, and the poor.

Justice/Rights/Fairness

Likewise, justice, rights, and fairness were also significant teachings of Jesus. His direct focus on the least of these, the prisoners, and the oppressed, no doubt threw many a wrench into the people that heard him. Yes, prophets in the OT preached justice time and time again, and Sodom was blown away for its lack of justice and concern for the poor… but still no one listened, much less acted.

Group Loyalty

Jesus aggravated the people of Israel in a huge way more than a few times. Folks wanted a revolutionary to rise up against the Romans… what they got was a revolution against their own. What they got was Jesus who crossed the lines to Romans, to Gentiles, and to Samaritans. For those he called, there was almost always a significant cost… they had to leave their group, their families, their wealth, their safety behind.

Respect for Authority, Hierarchy

Jesus upended this most spectacularly with his emphasis on service, and the inversion of rewards and the power structure, much to the chagrin of the leaders of that day. Likewise, he put many leaders and authorities in the hot seat time and time again.

Purity, Sexuality, Food, and Religious Law

Jesus likewise upended the purity laws, whether it be healing on the Sabbath, eating food on the Sabbath, or hanging out with those who would have been considered unclean. Most assuredly for those who had put a stake down in this sector of morality, Jesus must have been anathama to them being viewed as a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” Yes, he did come down on divorce, and adultery… but he seemed to come down a whole lot harder on greed, and the religious laws and practices of the day.

The Eisegesis Guy Once Again

Getting back to the eisegesis guy… he put exceedingly high values on ingroup, hierarchy, and in some of his other writings on purity. With such an extreme focus in those arenas, its no wonder his worldview did not allow him to consider that Jesus would even speak of harm, much less justice in regards to morality.

Hous asked the following on twitter. “Do most Americans misunderstand Israel and Palestine?” and then linked to a really cool blog post. While the blog entry itself is interesting, the ongoing comments are where things really rock.

Some themes spin out of this.

1. The need to distinguishing between the religious and the political aspects.
2. The need to distinguish between modern and ancient Israel.
3. There is WAY too big of a gap between ways of thinking and cultures for people in the West to say what they say without understanding the people in the East who are in the heart of it.

Hous’ comment on Mar 23 really hits home. Some bits from it.

….you really have no idea how bad it can get. They “straight line equate” biblical Israel with modern Israel, believe God wants them to displace all of the Palestinians, believe a lot of bizarre apocalyptic things about rebuilding the temple, etc., and categorically reject everything Palestinian and Arab, even faithful Palestinian Arab Christians. This line of thinking is very real and held by tens of millions of Americans.

Such is a problem, a huge problem, and its not one thats easily solved. If it were just an area of theological dispute, greater emphasis on proper Biblical exegesis would solve it organically.

Instead for far too many, mere mention that such beliefs could be in error come across as an attack on their entire faith structure, and they may well dismiss further Biblical study on the matter.

In a lot of ways, I think the whole “left behind” industry holds the blame for this mess. Much more so than Darby, or even Schofield for that matter. (While I find pretrib to be a huge error, in and of itself it doesnt have to lead the wild beliefs which Hous writes about). Its a sad deal, that far too many Christians know more left behind trivia than they do of the scriptures.

Perhaps a direct counter to the left behind industry based upon rock solid scriptures and theology, (perhaps even if it includes pretrib eschatology) may be part of the answer.

For day after day they seek me out… they seem eager to know my ways. Yep, such is the first bit of todays lectionary reading. Despite the multitude of problems in contemporary Christian society, underneath it all, I think there is an eagerness to know God’s ways. I think there is a level of seeking going on, even amongst Sunday only Christianity.

Its also interesting how verse 9-10 of Isaiah ties right into todays Gospel reading… If we are to let our light shine before men, we ought not to be putting it under a bowl. If we are to let our light shine, we ought not to be doing the finger pointing and malicious talk.

We’ve been working on some Casting Crowns tunes on Friday nights, and both seem to hammer home todays scriptures.

The chorus of “Does Anybody Hear Her”

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she’s going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that’s tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

The chorus of “If We are the Body”

But if we are the Body
Why aren’t His arms reaching
Why aren’t His hands healing
Why aren’t His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren’t His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way

My friend @tragicpizza hit on a couple key bits in this mornings sermon.

1. Jesus declares us salt and light, its not something we do on our own.

2. We are to act who we are. He hits home with the following.

If we view church as something we go to, rather than something we are; if it’s a once-a-week get-out-of-Hell-free card or if it counts as positive marks on our social acceptability meter, we miss the point, and I would contend that we are in danger of finding out how salt can become unsalty.

And if we, as Christians, are struggling to be accepted by God, to be doctrinally perfect and theologically blameless, we’re missing the point. We are already accepted by God. We are already salt and light. We don’t cease functioning because we’re already there; instead, knowing who we are and whose we are frees us to act in response to this incredible gift of God’s grace! We can’t be anything but salt! We can’t be anything but light!

He then follows up with what happened when Canvas Community Church saw a need in their community.

In early January, as temperatures in Arkansas were dropping far more than usual, the homeless shelters became filled to over capacity. People were, out of necessity, being turned away. There was no room. Canvas Community church members decided to open their doors so folks could get warm. There was no big pomp and circumstance, no running it through committee to make sure it didn’t violate the charter, no budget, and no plan for how to get it done.

….

What is striking to me, and not in a good way, is this: Canvas Community Church is all too unique, not because of what they did, but that they did it at all. They didn’t sit back and expect the shelters to magically expand their capacity to do the job. They didn’t wait on the government to step in. They were salt. They were light.

Seeing a need and actively, even recklessly, meeting that need? That is being the salt of the earth which brings nourishment, healing, and restoration. That is being the light of the world which brings hope, direction, growth, and life.

When the ELCA Study Bible came out a ways back, there was a whole lot of muttering over Dr Priebe’s commentary on the great commission. So much so, that apparently later printings of it have that section redacted… most likely due to the fact it can easily be misread as to suggest universalism. On the other hand, in pulling out the following:

Jesus now sends the disciples to make disciples of all nations. That does not mean make everyone disciples. Most people who are helped by Jesus and believe in him never become disciples. Jesus includes in salvation people who do not believe in him or even know about him. Disciples are students, called for the sake of the world to learn from Jesus and to bear witness to the kingdom.

…we end up missing the discussion on disciples as well. Dr Priebe distinguishes between one who believes, and one who is a disciple, but the direction he chooses is vastly different than what is commonly understood, ie, what is presented in James 2:19.

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

In his offline commentary, Dr Priebe ties this into Acts 16:1 where Timothy’s mother was described as a believer, and Timothy was a disciple. If we then take this a tad further, and roll on over to 2 Timothy 1:5, we learn a bit more of Timothy’s mother and grandmother.

Paul writes: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”

On first glance… what gives with this? If we take the common understanding that all those who follow Christ are disciples, things dont square up with Timothy’s mother not being called a disciple. Logically based upon the 2 Timothy text, she practiced her faith, she prayed, she taught her son, she was active in her community of faith, (in todays world, maybe she was at church 3-4 times a week or more, taught Sunday school, sang in the choir, and tithed to boot)… and yet, she is not considered a disciple?

If we go back to Dr Priebes commentary…

In the Greek philosophical schools or later in Rabbinic Judaism beginning shortly before the time of Jesus, a “disciple” is a pupil of a teacher – the two terms go together. In Matthew, those who believe in Jesus and are benefited by him, experiencing the transforming power of the kingdom – or even the crowds that follow him – do not become disciples even when they may want to do so. What is distinctive about being a disciple in the Gospels is that they do not decide to become disciples, Jesus calls them to be disciples – and in that sense “makes” them disciples, although that language is not used. Second, being a disciple entails not only a pupil-teacher relationship, as it does in the philosophical schools or in the Rabbinic tradition, but it also entails an attachment to the person Jesus Christ.

and

The idea that a small number of people who are called by Jesus and who bear witness to him fill the world with the light of the gospel and with his presence is reflected in a different way when Athanasius in the early 4th century speaks of the entire world being filled with the light of the Gospel and Jesus’ transforming power. The Christian missionaries in China in the 7th and 8th century say the same thing about the light of the gospel filling the entire kingdom. In neither case are Christians anything but a small minority. But what they refer to is that there are Christians who bear witness to Jesus Christ scattered throughout the Empires, and through their witness all things are being transformed.

In other words, Dr Priebe seems to put the role of being a disciple as a different calling in contrasted with those who are called to be believers. I think he may be onto something with that.

The thing is… even if folks are not disciples, if we look to Timothy’s mother and grandmother as non-disciple participants in his growth, their faith practices, and their entire lives pointed to Christ. They were likely anything but Sunday only Christians. They were believers making disciples!

“Is it all right for your church to ask you for your W2, for tithing purposes?” was a question Brant posted on facebook and the comments lit up like a wild fire (over 200 in a short period of time). Most folks were aghast, and the “its between God and you” which somewhat aligns with the scripture about not bragging about good works came up time and time again. On the other hand, the verbiage commonly used in the comments suggested it seemed more so a privacy/culture issue than a sin avoidance one. Also considering the average tithe is around 2%, rather than 10%, much less the 23-1/3% called out in the OT, all the outrage in the comment section doesn’t add up either. Ie accountability would seem to increase those figures, and that would be a good thing.. but then its personal accountability, not the other guy, so maybe not. (bearing in mind, the law is fulfilled, and contemporary tithe concepts are drastically different than what the OT actually presents)

Upon a bit further thought, I came across three big logical inconsistencies.

First, many commentators have suggested it would be fine to require W2 submission if the church was providing help to a down and out person. Face value wise seems to be a double standard, the poor have to share the info, the rich can keep it hidden away. It seems counter to the whole bit about those who have been given more, are also subject to being required more etc. Admitted, it does seem like good stewardship to minimize fraud via verification.

Second, why should the church membership operate under less accountability than the government and charities, where salary data is published for accountability purposes? It would seem that the church body should set the example when it comes to accountability, rather than preferring to hide things in the dark.

Third, Jesus asked the rich young ruler to sell all he had and to follow him. Simply providing a document is pretty minor in contrast with what was asked of the rich young ruler… and he had already heard Christ’s words, the door was open, but he chose to walk away. Yet, many commentators openly said, if such were to occur, they too would walk away. Granted, folks are at different places in their walk, and also they are called to different things… but to walk away?

That being said, I would tend to think of such a practice negatively, knowing that if implemented, other sins within and around the body of believers would likely multiply. It also might present a barrier to the Gospel, if showing said W2 was necessary to venture in the door. Lastly, there is also the aspect of obligation, vs responding in love for God and one another. The W2 aspect would shift things into the obligation realm, rather than the love one, which obviously would be not cool…

It is an interesting question to ponder though.