And then there was one

Biblical heritage just might have brought out the blogger in me. Who knows if I'll keep this up even after the class?

In my last post, I reflected upon the lessons I've learned from the class. Today, I'll reflect upon the future and what this class might mean for my faith. Just finished writing a final paper for this class and I was astounded about how much my thought processes had changed. Being able to read scripture and evaluate it is really rewarding. So I guess now I'll be a more careful reader of Scripture, not just reading the words but understanding the context.

I figure I've had a good run. The road was rough (ploughing through Hays), but the rewards have been great.
And so ends Sufficient for the day...

Reflection

As my blogging days draw to a close, I think it is only fitting to write about what Christ has done in my life through an ethics class. Therefore, today there will be no blogging, only reflection.

When I walked into my Biblical Heritage class, I didn't really know what to expect. I remember my professor saying to us once that the purpose of the class was to shake the foundations of our beliefs, but not with the aim of leaving us confused, but with the goal of building a stronger foundation. This has been my story.

I have learned that in all issues, ethical or otherwise, Christ comes first. Always. His heart is what we should seek after, when deciding right and wrong. As hackneyed as the mantra "What would Jesus do" has become, it really does sum up what our ideal response to ethics should be. I have sat in classes that talked about the Christian response to war, tears brimming in my eyes as I thought about my father, a retired general, that had fought at some point. Fought and killed. My father, a retired general. My father, a Christian. I have forced myself to put my father aside, and look at war through the eyes of Christ in order to develop my stance on the issue. I'm still looking...

I have sat in classes that have taught a different way to look at controversial issues such as homosexuality and abortion. Not to find some justification for them, but to discover Christ's response to them. I have been forced to realize that the Church is the body of Christ and as the body, we must love, guide and correct, but never condemn. It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance...

As my blogging days come to an end, I think it is only fitting to write about what Christ has done in my life through an ethics class. Jesus Christ has made me realize that in all things, He comes first. Always.

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot...

I was at lunch with a friend the other day and she decided to grab napkins for our table. She grabbed quite a few and I sort of chided her for grabbing so many since we obviously weren't going to use them all. She responded by saying a few napkins wouldn't hurt the world and that Jesus was going to come and take us all to heaven anyway so there wasn't a need to get stressed out about the earth. I was disappointed by her response and I made it known to her.

So what's so deep about napkins? nothing really. The incident just got me thinking about how we as Christians, respond to environmental issues. Because if my friend's viewpoint is the popular one among Christians, then we're in trouble. Most Christians will agree that we should be stewards of the earth and its resources; we will agree that it is good to leave something better than you met it; we will agree that the earth is one of God's gifts to us as humans beings. But when it comes to deciding to what extent out stewardship should go, then problems arise.

I think Christians find it hard to deal with environmental issues because we try too hard to look at the big picture: global warming, resource depletion, conservation of energy, waste management and so on. What we need to do instead is start with the little things or as my pastor would say, "living simply so that others may simply live". We forget that while our individual actions may not amount to much, the aggregation of similar actions does. For example, not leaving the water running today means everyone else has a little more the next day, and ultimately, for the future.

So instead of thinking of the bigger things, let's do our own little part today. Sufficient for the day is its own troubles...

Win-Win situations?

Okay so I'll admit: I've always thought that success in business meant that someone else somewhere, was losing something. This is one of those few times where I don't chide myself for believing a lie: that's the only model of business I've ever seen at play; one party gets richer to the detriment of the other. Economics rests on the the assumption that the fittest survive. There are no win-win situations. At least that's what I thought.

However a class discussion changed my view on that and I've since begun to realize that there are ways to run a business and make profit without running other people down or exploiting them in some way. I was also shocked to learn that doing business that benefits others before oneself is actually the most profitable way to carry out business. Kinda counter-intuitive huh?

So it's refreshing to see that capitalism, with all its troubles, isn't inherently bad and can be put to noble uses to produce noble results. Who would have thunk it?

Show me the money!

Just in case you're wondering, that line is from the movie 'Jerry Maguire' :-)

Money, or should I say wealth, is one issue that Christians tend to take extreme stances on. I've been to churches when all that was preached were prosperity messages that emphasized the 'blessings' that God wants to shower on his children. It always seemed like God's reward to his faithful servants was some kind of financial gain.

On the other hand, I know people that think money is evil and that Christians should not seek to be rich on earth but should wait for heavenly treasure. Let me say that there is heavenly treasure, but I don't think it's God desire that we struggle through life and hope that we'll someday be put out of our misery so we can finally enjoy this heavenly treasure.
We say "[God's] will be done on earth as it is in heaven", yet we don't believe this applies to our material success in life. I often hear this quite and it drives me crazy because I think "that's no even right":
" Money is the root of all evil" or "The love of money is the root of all evil"
But what does the Bible actually say?

1 Tim 6:10
 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. ..
In other words, loving money leads to different evils but money itself is not evil and is not the cause of the world'

Let's think about that for a second...

To war or not to war?

So in light of the class reading on just war theory, I'm going to expand  a little bit on my thoughts.

I have always thought that Christians need to be in all noble spheres of life in order to show the love of Jesus whether this be in the business, entertainment, healthcare or education sector. Needless to say, I have always thought of military service as noble and an act of laying down one's life for his friends. However, after reading William Hays' stance on Violence and Just war, I had to rethink my stance. Even now, I 'm still not sure where I stand.

However, I understand that we are to follow the ways of Christ in all things. Not just for the parts that are easy but even for those that make us uncomfortable. In fact, I would say especially for those parts that make us uncomfortable because they are counter-cultural.

Moreover, I'm beginning to understand that a reliance on violence for defense really reflects the rebellion that the Israelites exhibited against God:

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead ^[a] us, such as all the other nations have."
 ⁶ But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. ⁷ And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. ⁸ As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. ⁹ Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
 ¹⁰ Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹ He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. ¹² Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. ¹⁶ Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle ^[b] and donkeys he will take for his own use. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
 ¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. ²⁰ Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."
 ²¹ When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. ²² The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king." 

So I guess, it's no longer enough for us as Christians to trust that God will protect us or to say like Daniel did:

"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

Where does that leave us then. Are Christians in the military committing sin by being a part of military resistance. Well this is what Hays' suggests and as much as I don't want to, I agree with him. But what about the wars sanctioned by God in the OT. Should we look away from those as well...?

All these questions and no answers at least not until we see the face of God.
Sufficient for the day is its troubles...

Introducing...Good and Evil

So this weekend I was watching cartoons with my niece and nephew. At some point we started watching Strawberry Shortcake, which by the way I highly recommend :-), and I realized that even in a cartoon series with characters as sweet (no pun intended) as Strawberry Shortcake and her friends, there's still an evil character. That got me thinking to all the other cartoon I ever say during my chilhood.

Here's what I realized; I have never, I mean never, watched a kid's show that didn't have a villain. Never. In my 21 years of existence. Never. Even writing now, I'm still slightly amazed. How can there be no cartoons without villains? It's like it's in our culture to place good and evil side by side. Think about it. For Dora, there's Swiper the Fox, Dragon Tales? Berenstein Bears? yep, there's a villain (usually a different one each episode). Forget the Disney movies. They're classic hero-villain protrayals. Just in case you're concerned that you've never heard of these cartoons before, not to worry, I'm that one random kid that watches way too much kids TV:-)

I started thinking about the effect that this portrayal has on children. On the one hand I think it's great that children areen't deceived into thinking that the world is all strawberries and ice cream (although Strawberry Shortcake might disagree with that), but at the same time, I think it's also kind of distorted. I mean what if a kid decides they want to be the villain instead of the good guy. There's no guarantee that the child's actually going to learn the values or morals that you're trying to get across by depicting good and evil. That a risk. A huge risk to take just so we can present the world in black and white.

But while I'm pondering these things, I'm just gonna sit down and watch another episode of Strawberry Shortcake. Sufficient for the day is its own troubles...

Where is the Love?

The story of Tyler Clementi, the guy who committed suicide after footage of him engaging in sexual relations with another man was released, is all over the media and social networking sites. My roommate and I were having a conversation about the issue, and she was telling me how a lot of gay people commit suicide because of the stigma associated with homosexuality.

Let me just say at this point that I do not support homosexuality. I do not think it is biblical or in line with God's intention for creation and I think Romans 1. However, let me also say that I'm a firm believer in Romans 2:

"You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. ²Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. ³So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? ⁴Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?"

I get really angry when I see people holding signs that say "God hates gay people" or something akin to it. I almost want to say it’s bad publicity for God. It’s like we take one idea and completely isolate it from the purpose and intent that God originally intended. We say God doesn't support homosexuality; therefore he must hate those who practice it, forgetting that we were loved even in our own sin:
^"6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. “(Rom 5)

As Christians, this should be our attitude to homosexuality. Not one of ignorance, lest we mock our faith by not knowing what is required of us as God's children; and not one of quick solidarity, lest we champion a cause we neither believe in nor understand. And not one of acquiescence either. Oh how we love to take sides on issues either to please a group or to please ourselves.

I think its time we the Church stood up and called out Love. Again, not condoning the sin but accepting the inner. Surely we can do that. Jesus modeled it for us…

Good eyes. Bad eyes.

The title here is an allusion to Matthew 6:22-23 which says:
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness" (NIV)

Since we've recently studied the sermon on the mount in Biblical Heritage class, I thought I'd just bring up this particular verse as it is one that has great consequences for our society today. Very often, we tend to disregard the importance of 'good' eyes in a world that is plagued by sensuality. I remember watching a movie rated PG-13 once, and thinking "who the heck thought this would be appropriate for 13-year olds?!". It's like we spend so much time trying to keep youths away from violence, that we fail to see the the pernicious effects of sensuality in the media.

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine once and she suggested we go see a movie. I declined the offer hoping she wouldn't probe me further on my reason for doing so. No luck there. She did asked and I had to explain to her that I'd seen the preview and read the reviews, and I just wasn't comfortable with the movie's sexually explicit content. She looked at me incredulously and said, "Really? That stuff gets to you?!".
Yes friend, that stuff gets to me. It gets to all of us. I used to think the problem was that I was just a really visual person and so I was more affected by images, but after reading the Matt 6:22, I began to understand that I was just more aware of the importance of guarding my eyes. "The eye is the lamp of the body" is what Jesus says. It illuminates us! Yet we're so willing to let anything and everything pervade it.

For those who are having a hard time identifying with me, let me give you a scenario that I hope will drive my point across. You've recently moved into a new house and your friendly neighbors next door come over and ask you to join them for a home-cooked meal and cool hangout time. You get there and have dinner with them. After the meal is done, you ask what else they have planned for the evening and they casually explain to tell you that next on the agenda will be you watching them engage in intercourse. I hope at this point you're thinking "awkward!" and running out the door of your neighbors' house! Sounds like an extreme case doesn't it? But think about it. What do these movies ask us to do by showing sexually explicit content?  They ask us to participate, by viewing, in situations that if presented to us in the natural world, we would waste no time in fleeing from.

What we watch is important friends. This stuff gets to us and unfortunately it also gets through us.
Sufficient for the day is its own troubles...

That you do unto me...

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:40 (NIV)

Recently been considering the concept of social justice and the church's response to pain and suffering in the world. In the Old and New Testaments, there are numerous calls to care for the alien, the orphan and the widow. In fact, tithe in the Bible is often mentioned in association with these groups. Take the example below:

"When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied."

Now I know tithing is a huge debate in the Christian community today. Some people think its an OT deal that has no relevance for the NT christian (by the way, i'm not a huge fan of the term 'New Testament Christian', something not quite complete about it). Others think its applicable to all Christians at all times. I'm not going to try to argue for either side. That's talk for another day.

However i think in the midst of the debate, we've really forgotten the heart behind the tithe i.e. what God intended it for: to ensure that the poor and needy were taken care of; that they had food to eat and clothes to wear. Over the years Christians have gone weary of giving to the poor either because we're not sure the money will be put to good use or more commonly because we've separated the words of God from the heart of God. i've heard people say giving to the poor is equivalent to slapping in a band aid on a gaping. I say let it be! Better a band aid than nothing.
" Freely you have received. Freely give" Matt 10:8
Make of that what you will. Sufficient for the day is its own troubles...

Got Milk?

Recently in the UK, there happened to be a public uproar about the introduction of cloned milk into the market. The problem was that the government had consented to the sale of milk from cloned animals, without informing the public. This sparked a debate about whether or not people should be informed about the origins of their foods.

The whole milk deal made me wonder if I really want to know where my milk comes from. If I do, then I’ll have to determine how I feel about it. I’ll have to consider cloning from a Christian point of view. And I’m thinking “I don’t even know what to do with all this info!” Sure I don’t support cloning human beings. I don’t support the cloning of animals either. But do I mind eating or drinking products from cloned animals? Umm….not really.

So in my confusion I begin to wonder what God feels about stuff like this. Sure science and technology have their downsides, but they also have some amazing benefits. My professor talked about civilization coming from the line of Cain, the cursed line you might say. However, I think God’s used science to do some pretty awesome things. Question is: as a Christian how do I determine where to draw the line?

Also, cloned milk just so happens to be cheaper. I know I should be willing to make sacrifices for what I believe in, but it’s just milk right? And then something else. And something more. Just milk. Just animals. Just humans…

This seems like a slippery slope, I know. I also know that I seem pretty obsessed with milk right now. My concern is really that agreeing to consume products from cloned animals will be opening the door to less agreeable scientific procedures. If I can rationalize cloned milk, what else might I be willing to rationalize when it comes to the applications of cloning?

My head hurts from thinking. Sufficient for the day is its own troubles…

The Stanley Milgram question...

The title of this post relates to the article I read for an Examined Life class titled "If Hitler asked you to electrocute a stranger, would you? Probably". If you haven't read it, you should although I warn you, it's quite disconcerting. I'll give a brief synopsis and hopefully I don't spoil the reading for you. Stanley Milgram is a social psychologist who set out to prove that the atrocities committed by Nazi Germans were a result of a character flaw that predisposed them to evil. To his surprise, Milgram found out by conducting experiments in which subjects were asked to electrocute an individual, that given the right settings and an adequate amount of persuasion, many people would do what the Nazi's did. He found out that humans were more likely to commit evil if they acted in a position of agency rather than authority. So even when subjects were uncomfortable with electrocuting another individual, they did it anyway because they were told to do so. Disconcerting? Yes. But you can't say I didn't warn you.

I'd buried the memory of this reading until a few weeks ago when I visited the Holocaust Museum in Houston. Seeing pictures and reading accounts of Holocaust survivors, I almost ran out of the building crying. Shortly after my visit, I remembered again, the Milgram experiment and it made me sick to think of what his findings suggest.

Now we are in class talking about free will and I'm starting to wonder the part it plays in situations like the Holocaust. Could the gift of free will not have saved millions? How was it possible for one man to erode the will of thousands of others and convince them to commit acts that they would probably never do on their own? Or was the agreement to act in a position of agency an act of free will itself? I'm just trying to make sense of it. It's ironic that we humans pride ourselves in our autonomy; in our ability to choose what we want, to exercise free will. Yet we give it up easily to be misused by evil minds. Something's not right about that.

But then again, a lot isn't right with our view of free will today. That's talk for another day though. Sufficient for the day is its own troubles...

"They should all be killed..."

That's what my brother-in-law recently said to me while we were watching a news story about a murderer on the loose. I found it rather disconcerting that he would say something like that; my brother-in-law is probably the least violent person on the face of the earth. His statement stirred up a heated debate between us. I'll share a little of what went on and let you pick a stance.

He said that murderers, rapists, sexual offenders, child molesters and the like should all be given the death penalty for the atrocious acts they have committed. I agree that some acts are atrocious. Some of the things I hear on the news make me sick to my stomach! However, I also happen to believe in forgiveness and in the mercy of God. My bro-in-law is a Christian, as am I. He's been one for a while now so it's not as if he's not familiar with the concept of grace or forgiveness. But he was of the opinion that some crimes should be punished by death because it's no use hoping that the offenders will someday be reformed. He argued that many of these people go right back to their previous crimes when they're released from prison.

It is true, many offenders re-offend. But my take on it was that we just cannot afford to play God. Ok, so we kill the rapist. And we kill the child molester.
"How about the businessman whose gamble subjects humble families to poverty? Do we kill him too?", I asked.
"No" he said, "his crime is small".
"Even if it somehow leads to the death of another human being" I asked.
"Well, he should die too then", he replied.

At this point I had to point out the error in his argument. He had no standard for determining who got to die and who got to live. The criminal's fate seemed to be dependent on the 'gravity' of the crime. So this is where I ask: are there really small crimes and are we really in a position to mete out the death penalty to one crime and not to another even though both may ultimately cause the same amount of damage?

This is what has occupied my mind for a while and now that I have shared it, I can find respite as I will not carry it with me into another day. Sufficient for the day is its own troubles...