Like many in the US, I’ve been mentally preparing for how I might feel with this latest round of Supreme Court decisions. I’ve been trying to figure out how, or if, I should share some thoughts about it. All of that idea, especially the sharing aspect, is tricky and as the philosophical divide has grown increasingly deeper, much of what passes as communication quickly devolves into threats, accusations and hateful speech. It’s much like I wrote two years ago about the death of the turn signal and what it entails.
“At the root of that contract lies an understanding that each citizen is connected to each other, and they need each other….When I simply choose to drive in a way that only is best for me, taking little concern or thought about the “other,” we can see the coming death of the social contract….society that no longer works on a social contract becomes a very different, far worse, more coarse, more selfish society.”
So, obviously I have decided to share, so here it is…a series of some brief takeaways over the next few days. And, rather than my normal blog schedule of every Tuesday and Thursday, this series will come over the subsequent days. I hope that you will come back every day to read these thoughts.
While I have been thinking and praying about it, I was reading in my Bible and was led to I Peter 4. As I read this chapter over and over the past 2-3 days, I believe I have found my verbal footing, some insights that help me express my thoughts. They are perhaps more of a challenge to my Christian friends, church members, loyal readers….though I hope my other readers will consider my thoughts too. So, let’s go.
I Peter 4:7-10 The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you.
Believe it or not, I don’t share Peter’s warning about “the end of the world is coming soon” because of the ruling on homosexual marriage. I don’t even necessarily think the end of the world is coming soon, if by “soon” one means in the next few months. Yes, Jesus could come back, and I BELIEVE HE WILL RETURN, but He’ll do it on God’s timetable, when the Father commands Him to return, and not in connection with some issue here in the USA.
However, the changes that happened this week absolutely mean that a massive shift has been legalized, with the most obvious shift being the ruling about the health care law. In that decision, the Supreme Court said, in essence, that since they like the law, they will legalize it even though the actual wording of the law is unconstitutional. In one fell swoop, the entire point of the independent judiciary was eliminated, and in its place was established a group of nine who now claim the right, and perhaps even duty, to write laws; or interpret laws however they want, regardless of the wording of the law…which is the same thing as writing laws.
And yet, as Peter writes, even though the world, or country, as we knew it has ended, the call to Christians remains to show deep love. Now Peter is talking about showing love to Christians, at least in this verse (the “each other” means the believers to whom he is writing). Yet, elsewhere, it is clear that we should show love to all people, even those who disagree with us.
The testimony of the earliest Christians was not that they occupied a position of power from which they could dictate the course of culture or the ruling of government. Instead, they attracted many through their love, often to others whom society ignored. In both the health care decision and the homosexual marriage issue, we are talking about the poor, marginalized and often unloved. Christians do not have to embrace either decision to still show open love. Perhaps you know someone who needs financial help due to health care issues…why not cheerfully share your home with them, giving them a meal.
We in the Christian faith have, for at least the last 75 years, grown lazy and perhaps arrogant in assuming that we could dictate the culture of this country. In that laziness, not only has the country slipped in its morals (evidence about the weakness of the church, since the country has long claimed to be Christian, with over 80% of the people making that statement….obviously if such were true, then our morals would not have declined), but rather than seeing the church return to His word and His ways in a humble repentance, many Christians have lashed out in anger at others. Nothing in what Peter says, or anywhere else in the Bible for that matter, is it suggested that we respond in shock and anger when a non-Christian civic society makes rules that we disagree with.
If we really hope to have any place to engage in the conversation about our country, especially what we expect from the Supreme Court or from the government generally, we would do well to take Peter’s exhortation to heart. Let’s let our love for one another, both in and out of the church, shine brightly before all people.