A Month in the Life

Awe...I'll miss you...

:)
 

Do you think the "Jesus spent most of his time with tax collectors,..." analogy is an accurate one? I'm not sure...

This is not meant to be malicious at all, though I know it will sound that way. But I have one question: How do you view the Bible and its relevance to day-to-day living? I promise this is not malicious. I just wondered.
 

I vote for #2:

Everyone has the right to be stupid, this guy (meaning me) just abuses the privilege. ~Anonymous

But that's only because you're my brother and I love you!
 

Thanks for the thought-provoking (if not response-provoking, lol) posts. It takes a lot to stick your neck out and take the heat like you have. God bless!
 

Hmmm, yes I do think it's correct, it's not an analogy, its a statement of fact. Jesus' ministy was primarily performed amongst those who were on the outskirts of Jewish society. He was with his disciples, but he was working amongst some of the most despised people in Israel.

As for your question "How do you view the Bible and its relevance to day-to-day living?", I have a response. Thank you for the question. First, I understand a distinction between philosophy and theology. Within philosophy I understand a distinction between different fields of philosophy such as theory of knowledge, cognitive theory, metaphysic, and ethics. I believe that a person can be a good person and live an ethical life without believing in God. (Call out the police again, good thing it's my last day. Myself and other Apostolics I have talked with disagree on this fact.)

So, I believe that living a good life (day-to-day living) is a matter of ethics, not of theology. I think this is okay. The bible tells us that none of us could be good enough to deserve heaven anyway. We are saved by grace through faith. Grace is God's gift to us.

However, this does not mean that the Bible has nothing to contribute to ethics. I've often wondered "what are Christian ethics?" My current belief is that fundamental moral standard in the New Testament is "Love the Lord thy God with all of your heart, soul, mind and spirit. And, love your neighbor as yourself."

Now, the question is how do I interpret those commandments? I've steered clear of this question with much care for this month. I don't know that I want to get into Biblical interpretation because that's generally an issue that might be covered over the pulpit by your pastor. But, it's my last day so what the heck?

I don't assume that I understand the same thing by those commandments that the disciples understood. The temporal and cultural gap between myself and the actual text is just too great. That doesn't mean that I think I can't understand it. What it means is that if I am to understand it correctly I must understand it differently. I must understand through the tradition that I've been handed it as it applies to MY life. Gadamer, the father of 20th century hermeneutics, has this great quote. He says something like this, "The point of understanding Biblical texts is not so that I can know in abstract what was meant by the author at the time that he wrote it. Rather, the point is that it may exercise its saving effect." So, basically I think understanding is application and the important question is how these commandments can apply to my life.

It's not a moral theory based on biblical texts but that's not what I'm interested in doing.

Does that answer your question at all?
 

Take care. As for me I'll stick with the easily-interpreted, "forsaking not the assembling" bit, and call it good.

Sure, Jesus placed himself in the behavioral arcs of prostitutes and mystics. But he never became a "john" or patronized the alchemist to water down his "go and sin no more" (easily malleable admonition by Gadamer, I'm sure) bottom line.

And as far as the Che Guevara/Jesus iconography goes, I can only see one relationship (and that is one of contrast): When Jesus created a Bay of Pigs, he freed a man. When Che entered the Bay of Pigs, it resulted in the continuation of death and oppression to this day. So, being a revolutionary is useless when said magnetic roustabouts foment doctrines of death.

Again, thanks for being in here. I hope the relationship waves smooth over for you sooner than later, too. That’s always a bummer, Bro.

-R
 

Yes, I see now where you come from. But I think Jesus' two commandments you mention here are as straightforward and timeless as anything I've heard. I don't understand "I must understand through the tradition that I've been handed it as it applies to MY life." Love God, love your neighbor as yourself - sounds pretty straightforward to me.

As for being comfortable with "revolutionaries and mystics" more so than "the saintly and orthodox," that makes me say "hmmm." I understand your desire to learn, your curiosity, your desire to "think" and evolve. And I think that this is one way we "love God with our mind." But personally, I find that I must guard my mind - anything that would cause my thoughts to turn or twist, to ever view God's commands and His holiness as anything less than just that - well, I feel obligated - no, let me say I step back and decide that my love for Him and my relationship will make the decision for me not to continue down that path. Make sense? I'm not questioning your relationship with God - that's not my right or station. I have so many friends in the arts and they all "go there." They view God as equal, His Word as equal, not above or supreme.

Thanks for indulging my rambling thoughts.

AA
 

I must say that I truly will miss the journey through the "Pits of Pure Fury" that I took each time I read one of your blogs.

You have provoked me to anger, to outrage...and to thought. Thank you. Albeit, I have been at odds with most, if not all, of your arguments (wait...was that your point?), the ensuing dialogues have proven to be worth their while and their pain. Thank you again.

Concerning your final post (this typed while simultaneously exhaling a long-held breath), I have one last thought. I agree, that many "Christians" spend much more time around their own kind (as if they'll somehow convert them...) than around the "publican and sinner" sect. And I also agree that Jesus was excellent about being continually submersed into the dredges of society. But one of the coolest things about Jesus was that He affected society rather than allow it to affect him. Those with whom he spent time left changed, not vice versa. It is a snare that is easily tripped, a balance easily shaken: can we successfully submerge ourselves into society without successfully drowning ourselves?

May those who can't swim not jump in too deep.
 

dust couldn't have said it better. I am totally on board with the "Church" being more connected in to their communities (after all... I am a Community Pastor ;-)... but the key to success here is still separation. Anyone that knows me will attest that I am not a "head-in-the-sand" thinker, but I believe that the world and it's philosophies are still, and more so now than ever, a very dangerous place.

But it's all good... God has given us very clear instructions on how to protect ourselves while we are deeply connected into a non-God-knowing world... (Ephesians 6:11-18)