Morning Musing: Galatians 5:6 Part 2

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“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”
– ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:6‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter) 

In our first look at this verse we talked about the fact that Paul did some serious boat-rocking when he said that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything. He waded right into the middle of a contentious cultural debate and announced that both sides were wrong. Whether you had been circumcised or not did not have any bearing on whether or not you could become a follower of Jesus. Jesus came for everybody and everybody can receive Him no matter the state of their…well, you know. 

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Digging in Deeper: Galatians 5:6 Part 1

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“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”
– ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:6‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter) 

Have you ever done an escape room? It’s one of the latest social trends sweeping American culture. The idea is that you have been locked in some room and in order to get out you have to work through a series of clues to find the right key. These aren’t just blank rooms with envelopes on a table, though, they are richly decorated with clues seamlessly worked into the decorations. And each room has its own theme running the gamut from cute and quaint to intense and frightening. The idea has even hit it big enough that you can buy a board game version at your local store. 

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Morning Musing: Ephesians 4:31-32 Part 3

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“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
– ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:31-32‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter) 

We have so far covered the fact that we need some kind of a foundation for our efforts to be good beyond simple convenience, and that as Christians, citing the Bible as that source is problematic. It hurts both our walk and our witness. It hurts our walk by making us legalistic since a text doesn’t love you, it just tells you what to do. It hurts our witness by leaving us in a position of having to rigorously defend every single part of the Bible or risk losing all of it. Incidentally, the defense of the Bible is a big industry in Christian circles even as looking at it critically is a big industry in skeptical ones. We need—and have—a better foundation than this. Fortunately, we do have one: Jesus. 

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Digging in Deeper: Ephesians 4:31-32 Part 2

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“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
– ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:31-32‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter)

In the first part of this reflection I asked the important question: Why be good? After thinking about it for a bit, I landed on the idea that we need a better foundation for our efforts to be and do good toward the people around us than most of the ones we encounter in our culture. As Christians we have one, but we sometimes forget it and trade it out for one that’s better than average, but still not the best there is. Namely, we often rely on the Bible to serve as our justification for being good. Jesus is better. Let’s talk about why. 

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Morning Musing: Ephesians 4:31-32 Part 1

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“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
– ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:31-32‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter) 

Why be good? Why do something kind for another person who may not be able to return the favor? That’s a question that seems more relevant than ever in our increasingly polarized culture. More and more today people who are different from one another don’t actually know each other at all and are more likely to think of “the other” as the enemy rather than as a fellow human being who happens to believe differently about someone issue than we do. Little good is coming of that. But, if we are going to make any progress toward changing it, we’ve got to have an answer to this question: Why be good? 

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