Some time ago I came across a Face Book post admonishing all to
speak only positive things. It stuck with me since there are a lot of
negative, bash this and bash that posts and it is often easier to
criticize than to work for a solution. Acting to effect change always
carries the risk of failure. Criticizing and blaming can become a
comfort zone for those who are afraid to act.
Speak
only the positive! Ok but language is a funny thing. Words only have
meaning in context and words often get misused, abused and worn out.
The same words that are used to control, spread fear, create false
worlds and mind prisons can be used to bring the freedom, light and
truth that enable people to make their own choices and discover truth
for themselves. The same words that tell people what to think can be
used to set people free to think.
Jesus often
used contrast to provide the context that gave meaning to His words.
And yes, sometimes that contrast was negative. "You know that the
rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great
exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you, but
whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And
whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your slave- just
as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give
His life a ransom for many." Not that but this!
In
some circles there are a lot of questions about the Old Testament and
its difficult passages, in particular the violence of the history of the
wars of conquest and genocide and some of the provisions of the Mosaic
law. If these are questions that you are facing, you may appreciate
some of the works of Greg Boyd however, it is not my purpose to address
these issues. The reason I raise the Old Testament is to do with the
issue of context and the meaning of words. Words have meaning from
cultural context. The genius of the Holy Spirit in giving us the
historical record of God's dealings with "the people of the book"
through their relationship with the law, the prophets and their worship
in the Psalms is that He created an historical context in which the New
Covenant terms have definition and meaning.
The
words of Jesus and the letters and ecstatic literature of the New
Testament have an historical context so that no matter into which
language they are translated and no matter in what cultural context
these are read, those who speak that language and those who are in that
culture can appreciate and understand what Jesus said. This is the
genius of the Holy Spirit. It is like the genius of the Holy Spirit
that Jewish poetry is written in thought rhymes rather than sound
rhymes. Rhythm and rhyme poetry is difficult to translate into other
languages because each language has its own rhythms and rhymes. Thought
rhymes can translate into every language! But I digress.
While
the creation of an historical context for the New Covenant is a stroke
of Holy Spirit genius, most of the church of the first two centuries did
not have access to the scriptures as we now know them. Further, a
large portion of those people could not read. What made the early
church so viral? The context that gave meaning to their words
concerning the Kingdom of God and Jesus was their actions, their life
style, in short, their living life together.
Take
a very used, abused and worn out phrase, "to make disciples". For many
to "make disciples" means to hold classes until the new believers are
able to recite the dogmas and distinctives of that particular group with
an emphasis on why they are "right" and the other groups are "wrong".
The "right" behaviour most important to these groups is attendance at
the meetings and giving money to support the leadership and buildings.
I think Jesus would condemn this as "making proselytes" and as being
exactly what He condemned the scribes and pharisees of His day for
doing. Yes, sometimes you must speak the negative! You must state
what you do not mean.
Jesus often used stories
to illustrate his teaching. The command to love your neighbour brought
the question, "And who is my neighbour?" Jesus responds with the story
of the good Samaritan who cared for the wounded man after the various
religious leaders walked by and left him to die. The words of the
commandment were given flesh and blood, were incarnated in a real life
situation and placed above argument. You either do it or you do not.
You either act out of love or you do not.
Jesus
made disciples by living with them, serving with them. You cannot
teach "servant leadership". A servant leader is not someone who holds
seminars about servant leadership! Servant leadership is not taught in
the classroom. Servant leadership is caught in the street, in the home,
in the workshop and under a tree as life is lived together.
We
appreciate the power of the Old Covenant narrative to give context to
the New but the ultimate context for our words is our lifestyle. We are
so appreciative of friends around the world, from many different
backgrounds who are united in obedience to the Holy Spirit to multiply
disciples and disciple making movements. They are taking the risk to
act and multiplying the generations of Jesus Christ. Want to learn from
the example of three friends who challenge me? Look up Molong Nacua
from the Philippines on Face Book or Victor Choudhrie at http://www.thechurchinyourhouse.blogspot.in/2014/04/greet-church-in-your-house.html or Torban Sondergard at http://www.thelastreformation.com .
Your brother
Steve
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