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...