Say it Carefully

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. - Romans 13:8

While in Dublin, Ireland we toured St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the resting place of Jonathan Swift – well-known author of Gulliver’s Travels, prolific writer, and popular satirist with a passion for the interrelatedness of politics and religion.  Etched on his tomb was this epitaph:   “He lies where furious indignation can no longer rend his heart.”

I sometimes have bouts of “furious indignation.”   I get so passionate about current political and social paradigms that I feel like a racehorse tied to a plow!  I strain at the bit to be a prophetic voice, but I also have to wonder if my concerns are God’s concerns. 

Jesus told the Pharisees to “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”  (Matt 22:21).   And in Romans 13 Paul admonishes the Christians in Rome to submit to “governing authorities” because they are of God.  (They were also mostly pagans!)  Given these examples, what is our role in current events?

In Walking Between The Times – Paul’s Moral Reasoning (Fortress Press, 1991), author J. Paul Sampley outlines Paul’s perspective regarding eschatology (end times).  He states, “In Paul’s thought world he and his followers stand on the brink of the end.  The structures and patterns of this world, marked by sin’s power, are passing away….Paul’s moral reflections respond only to those issues raised by his congregations, and whatever he engages is viewed only as a stop-gap measure between here and the imminent end of the ages.” 

In other words, Paul expected the end to come during his lifetime or shortly thereafter.  Twenty-first Century politics, the world-wide web, social media, a book called The Bible in multiple translations, instant updates of world events were not in his forecast.  The world remains a mess, and Christians are still trying to live in all the messiness.  We pay our taxes and obey the laws of the land but we also have the freedom to address current moral issues.

Nothing turns me off as quickly as a furiously indignant voice, but I will listen to, learn from, consider and take seriously a voice speaking to me from a heart overflowing with God’s love.   Whether we share Christian perspectives with the masses or with one precious soul at a time, let’s do it prayerfully, kindly, and from an informed heart overflowing with God’s love.              

      

Sandra Milholland

Abilene, Texas