Standards

I mentioned to a friend on Sunday that we Christ-followers tend to expect people around us to intrinsically adhere to a set of moral standards which are the same as, or similar to, ours. (He interjected a comment that their moral standards are unfortunately higher than ours sometimes.) I submit that this is an unreasonable expectation. I don't know if I'm going to make my point well enough here, but I ask you to go with me as I pick this apart...

The most harsh words that Jesus had for the people with whom He came in contact were reserved for the religious leaders, not for the "commoners." He didn't set out with a moral ruler in hand, ready to tell people that they didn't measure up to His standards. On the contrary, He came down hard on the people who had taken His standards and contrived unreasonable obstacles for people to navigate.

This is murky water in which I believe the Church can, and often does, fruitlessly flail around on both sides of the issue. On one hand, we can set ourselves up on such a high pedestal that not only can people not reach it, we can't even get there ourselves! On the other hand, I see a lot of ostensible Christ-followers try to "reach" people from the moral vantage point of, "Hey, we Christians are people just like you 'normal' people. We fail every day, so you should expect to do that, too -- it's all cool." The first category isn't harmless, and the second one isn't blameless.

"Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world..." - Philippians 2:14-15

Those verses do not say that we're to make lights out of "a crooked and perverse generation," but we're to be lights to them. Paul also wrote in 1 Timothy that we're to pray for those in authority so that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life -- and that this is good and acceptable to God, Who desires everyone to be saved.

In Matthew 5, Jesus identified some particular groups of people: the poor in spirit, the mourning, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Then He told them, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."

So it follows that if we truly hunger and thirst for righteousness (fair, just, and unbiased character and actions, according to the Greek word "dikaiosunē"), lead a quiet, peaceable, blameless, and harmless life, that God is going to work through us to reach people. This is the essence of what we claim to believe, isn't it -- that it's not our job to convict people of sin, but that it's the work of the Holy Spirit within us?

Posted in: Christianity, Jesus, Life, The Church