May 13 ─ The Golden Rule, part 1

        Matthew 7:12 – "So in everything, do to others what you want them to do to you,

for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

         It is 2018, and this verse has been weighing on my mind lately. I can remember growing up in the 70s, and hearing this verse being touted outside of its Biblical context. As if it was a mantra for living, when one did not even care about the other teachings of Jesus. And it was! Notwithstanding the negative connotations of ignoring the rest of Jesus' teachings, society still accepted the wisdom of this verse as stand-alone decent behavior. And why not? The simple keeping of this command has ramifications throughout society and individuals alike.

         How much more peaceful our lives would be if everyone followed this command in detailed ways everyday! Let me give a few examples. Most people like to keep their home electric bills as low as possible. We turn off lights when not needed; we don't leave the TV on all night. The list goes on. So, why would I leave the lights and TV on in my hotel room when my stay has ended? (I see this regularly, as I work at a hotel.) The cumulative effect of this causes the business owner to pay more for electricity, which may cause his room rate to rise, which in turn may cause potential guests to look elsewhere for cheaper lodging, which in turn causes the business owner to not make money, which could effect his bottom line, as well as taxes that he would normally pay to the state and local governments. All of this, because I, and hundreds others, thoughtlessy left the lights on – after all, I don't have to pay the business owner's electric bill. Oh, how short-sighted we are!

        How grouchy do we get when someone tramples our rights? It is because the other person is usually doing something selfish, which affects me directly or indirectly. That selfish act may be something needful, but he doesn't think how it will affect those around him. For example, a couple of years ago, there were a string of burglaries at residences around me. I even had an air compressor in my garage stolen at this time. The neighbor across the street also had some items taken from his outbuildings. As a reaction to this phenomena, he erected a large, bright dusk-to-dawn light on the side of this house, closest to his outbuildings. Never mind that the light now constantly shines in my bedroom window every night. Why could he not have erected a motion-sensor light, which would shine only if there were motion, and then shut itself off shortly thereafter? He wasn't thinking about how it would affect others around him. He was not following the golden rule. And my peace has been disturbed.

        When I play my non-vocal music at work, it is at a level that suits me, but does not bother the other areas of my workplace. The level is audible to guests, but not obnoxious in any way. It is background music, which is where it belongs – in the background, not in anyone's face, disrupting a respectful conversation. How rude and disrespectful when the opposite happens to me in my own workplace! Peace is disrupted because someone else is not thinking of others in relation to their own actions.

        How many more common examples could we think of? Life would be much more peaceful, if we simply thought of how our own commonplace actions would affect others.

July 5 – Marriage Honored – Part 2

      1 Corinthians 5:15f – "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside [the church]?"

        It is a fantastic event when two people get married. A wedding is always a joyous occasion, with solemn vows exchanged, and feasting and dancing enjoyed by family and friends. We honor God, when we recognize his first institution, and follow its model, with its holy promise, love – and boundaries.

        When I see a so-called believer, whom I knew somewhat in years past, shack up with his/her soulmate, it pains my heart, knowing that God's commands toward fornication are not respected. The living together is sometimes a matter of convenience, while most of the time it is clearly a matter of selfishness. The question one should ask is: "Whom do I want to please today, and always, with my life and its actions – me or God?" Even if there is not sex involved in the living arrangements, the very appearance of evil negates that fact in the eyes of everyone (1 Thess. 5:22; 2 Corinthians 8:19-21). So, when I get a wedding invitation from someone who has been shacking up, I experience two emotions. The first emotion is gladness, for the fact that the persons are correcting the external appearance – the outward arrangement of marriage. The second emotion is stunted joy. You are asking me to help celebrate your sacred union on your wedding day, even though you have already disrespected the sacredness of that union. If you couldn't wait to consummate your relationship, then why should I celebrate months later, after the fact? To me, it takes the "punch" right out of the party!

        Well, you might say, "Wait a minute! Are you not acting like the brother of the prodigal son?" Perhaps, but, I have been to a few weddings of people who had shacked up previously. None of them contained confessions of repentance for actual or possible sinfulness. The story of the prodigal son contained real and voiced repentance.

        The verse above comes at the end of a fairly short argument by the Apostle Paul regarding a self-called believer in the Corinthian body of Christ, who was knowingly having an affair with his father's 2^nd wife (not the man's mother). It was public knowledge, and deemed to be okay, probably due to the tacit response of the church's leadership. To Paul, this seems to be an obvious case of blatant sin, being allowed to continue with nothing said, and thus being the leaven that works itself through the rest of the dough, in which it comes into contact. In other words, its tacit allowance causes the spiritual culture around it to be influenced – in a negative way.

        Today, in 2018 in the western world, it is quite common for couples to live together before they get married, if they ever do get married. In the eyes of the world, marriage is growing ever un-sacred. Bad turns to worse progressively – which is not a surprise. It should not be so for the body of Christ. We are the light of the world, and should act accordingly to help a dying world see that it is living in the dark. God calls us out of the world's system to be different, to be set apart from cultural norms when they go against God's commands, ways, and model of living. We must be different on purpose in order to not let the evil leaven to work its subconcious ways in our lives.