Messin' with our Minds
Maybe it’s just the work and faith community that I live in, but I’m hearing a maelstrom of Christian voices these days from liberals and conservatives alike, on everything from abortion to church growth, eschatology to hymnology – and they are all absolutely positive that theirs is the true Christian way.
That’s been on my mind this week as I read Colossians, a letter to Christians besieged by teachers telling them that various rituals and practices were essential in keeping the faith. 'Not so,' says the apostle Paul. Then he simply points to Christ – well, maybe not so simply, because he gets pretty complex along the way. But 'Here’s what's right,' he says. 'Here’s what’s good and true about following Christ.' All of chapter three is beautiful, but 12-17 brings me back to who I want and need to be.
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Thank you, Lord, for holding my hand on this road.
posted by Roy B. @ 6:25 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Thanks for sharing! I like being spurred to think!
You have hit something I so totally agree with. I think about this nearly every Sunday (no matter which church I'm at) since we seem to have fallen in love with tradition rather than with Christ. I come back to Paul and James, and then I think it might be Malachi...
Paul: (paraphrased) "all the law and the prophets boil down to this-Love the Lord your God with all your heart/soul/mind, and love your neighbor as yourself"
James: (paraphrased) "Religion that is pure and faultless is this...take care of the fatherless and the widow"
Malachi?? (paraphrased and continuing James' theme of God's passion for the oppressed): "Real fasting is to take care of the oppressed"
Yes - "trappings" of religion is a tough one. We are admonished often in Scripture against paying attention to the trappings more than to the "heart." Another similar passage is Micah 6:8 - what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy and walk humbly with your God." (at least I think that's Micah 6:8)
Post a Comment
<< Home