Reflecting on the Law of Christ

It amuses me that some Evangelical Christians get so upset over the removal of the Ten Commandments from public spaces such as courthouses, government buildings, or public schools. 

 

According to the Apostle Paul, a respected authority on the relationship between Jewish law and the Christian faith: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here” (2 Corinthians 5:17)! 

 

“The old has gone!” “The new is here!” Pretty straightforward, right? Well, apparently it isn’t for many Christians.

 

Truth is, we Christians are not obliged, nor are we required to live under the old covenant of Jewish Law. Christ ushered in a brand-new covenant far superior to the old one. Fact is, the Jewish Law is not for us, it was for the Jews! Was then and is now!

 

In fact, Mark tells us that a teacher of Jewish Law asked Jesus straight up: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important” (Mark 12:28). You will notice that Jesus did not say: “Well, the newest revision of the Old Law!” Nor did he say: “The latest updated version of the Law of Moses!”

 

Nope! He said that the most important commandment of all is brand new! Not revised nor updated, but brand spanking new! He replied to the teacher’s question by saying: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

 

Most New Testament scholars believe this to be what Paul called the “Law of Christ!” A brand-new commandment that replaces the Ten Commandments and all the other Old Testament laws that were so many and so burdensome. Just two commandments: Love God with all you have and love one another as you love yourself. 

 

Perhaps we need reminding that Christians are not obligated to live under the Old Testament Law (laws) that clearly were intended for the Jews and not Christians. The Ten Commandments were not intended for the followers of Jesus. They are good laws and served a good purpose for a particular people at a specific time. But Jesus ushered in a New Law and a New Age.

Should we get upset over the removal of the Ten Commandments from public spaces as mentioned above? 

 

Absolutely not, because we Christians are obliged to follow the Law of Christ and not the Law of Moses. I would ask: “Why isn’t the Law of Christ on display in our public spaces?”

Reflecting on God-Inspired Politics

Mention the word “politics” today and immediately folks begin thinking in terms of partisan loyalties and party policies and platforms. The word “politics” evokes a great deal of emotion and of late seems to bring the worst out of us (I’m not immune to blood pressure increases when the topic of politics is raised within my hearing). 

 

The hard truth is we can’t avoid thinking about politics today given the constant bombardment of the 24-hour cable news networks, numerous political blogs and publications, and exposure to social media platforms on which folks love to air their political views. But, for Christians I think it is important that we think and talk about politics in much a healthier and different way.

 

I have been told more times than I can count that there is no place in the pulpit for politics and that I should be silent on the subject in my sermons. Agreed! If we are talking “partisan” politics. 

 

According to Mark’s Gospel Jesus first preached the emergence of the “Kingdom of God”  (1:15). Now, unless I’m wrong, the kingdom of God (rule of God) is what the  world would look like if God was in charge. So, from the outset Jesus preached a form of politics that wasn’t partisan (as we would think of it today) but rather was a God-inspired form of politics.

 

In a recent Facebook post (there are some good ones now and again) pastor Josh Scott reminded us that the resurrection indeed had political implications. Scott points out that the word “resurrection” actually means “to be raised up” rather than just being resuscitated back into a flesh and blood existence. In other words, Easter represents a God-instigated “uprising” in order to push Jesus’ vision of God’s reign on earth forward (“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”). 

 

Easter represents an uprising of significant importance for the whole world. It far exceeds and transcends all worldly politics that is so power-driven, partisan-based, and so divisive. God raised up Jesus following the world’s rejection (crucifixion) of His kingdom here on earth and His vision of a peaceful, just, and egalitarian world order.

 

The dye has been cast and it began on that first Easter Morning! So when I hear the word “politics” this is what is triggered in my faith-driven imagination. This is why I believe the topic of a God-inspired politics cannot be totally eliminated in my writing nor in my preaching.  

 

When I hear the word “politics” today I hear “the empire of God” in a world that is so divided, so torn apart by conflict and war, so unjust both socially and economically, and so short-sighted by worldly partisan politics and imperfect political ideologies. When I hear the word “politics” I envision a new Empire, the Empire of God rather than an imperialistic empire driven by economic greed, militaristic chest-thumping, and unjust social structures, all powered ironically by the thirst for power itself. 

 

When I hear the word “politics” I am reminded that God operates from a platform of abundance as opposed to one of scarcity (which characterizes much of partisan politics today).

 

Peace be with you!

Reflecting on Pearls, Pigs and Dogs

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them underfoot and turn and maul you” (Matthew 7:6).

The metaphor of throwing pearls before swine or holy things before dogs was Jesus’s way of warning his disciples against imposing certain Gospel values upon the world at large. You see, some of Jesus’ teachings that Christians honor and hold dear make absolutely no sense to the general public. They may be good people and many of them are in fact, but the pearls of wisdom that animate the Christian life are not so widely accepted or believed by society-at-large. 

 

When Jesus told his followers to “turn the other cheek” or to “pray for those who offend you” or to “Love your enemy” he was providing a kind of wisdom understood only by those who follow and are committed to the Way (the designator for those who followed Jesus before they became known as “Christians”). Can you imagine Jesus offering these pearls of wisdom at a Pentagon war briefing?

 

So here is what I think Jesus is saying by using this metaphor: There are those teachings of Jesus that contain pearls of wisdom intended specifically for his followers rather than for the world-at-large. It would be awesome if the world at large accepted these pearls of wisdom, but the hard truth is, it most often does not. 

 

There are certain values of the Gospel that are intended to be life strategies for his followers. Casting such pearls of wisdom before those who do not share the same Gospel values would be a foolish exercise in futility. 

 

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