6.27.2009
Lawbreaker
Something has been swirling around in my head...what precisely is the role of "The Law" for Christians? I got my shackles up recently by Christians who still insist we must apply the Law , or aspects of the Law, to our lives, even if it is not loving to do so. So, I chose to dig around a bit about the law, both as documented in the Old Testament, and as referred to in the New. What is it's purpose for those who follow Christ? Eventually, I had a revelation. This may not be new to you, but it's new to me, so humor me.
If we read the bible with the idea that it documents a life, the life of the people of God, we see an interesting pattern; especially in light of God's portrayal of himself as divine parent. Our parents give birth to us, give us life, bring us into the world, create us. When we are infants, our parents care for our every need. They feed us and clothe us, keep us safe. As children, we begin to explore our environment and must be told to do this, and not to do that in order that we might learn to be caring of others, healthy and safe. As we grow into adolescence, we are taught more about having the correct motive behind our actions, love, care, wisdom, than we are told precisely what to do. We then go off into life enabled to make loving and healthy decisions on our own, no longer needing the minutiae of rules. Eventually we come to the close of life and meet with our demise, which really is only one kind of death, entering into a new kind of life.
It's an imperfect metaphor in some ways; imperfect because human life is imperfect, not because God's divine parenting is imperfect.
I see the Law as having been God's divine parenting; giving birth to humanity and initially caring for them in a "bubble" of safety and love during their infancy. As youth, they become more independent, exploring the boundaries of their environment. They are then given rules, instructed in the ways that will move them toward the goal of caring for and respecting others. As an adolescent people, it was time to teach them to make decisions out of right motives, rather than just because they are instructed to, and to set them free as adults equipped with this wisdom. When Jesus came and fulfilled the law and died, one of the outcomes was the realization that his example of love would be our motivator in life, and through and because of that, caring and respect would naturally follow without a detailed set of instructions. As a tangential aside, I have also thought about at what level we intervene in our children's lives as when they are young, versus how likely we are to intervene as they mature into adulthood. But that's another post.
According to Matthew Henry, the Law's purpose was to mandate behaviors that were loving. In Matthew 5 we are told that Jesus came to fulfill the Law; that is, to set into motion that which the law was trying to accomplish in the people; Love. In Matthew 22 we are told that in Jesus' own words, the most important laws are those about loving God and loving others, and that all the law and the prophets hang on these two. In fact, Jesus himself goes so far as to break the law, (working on the Sabbath, for instance) saying that if it is more loving or merciful to do something even if it is breaking the law, then do so; for the keeping of the law does not atone for an unmerciful act. Love supersedes the law.
So, then, setting my heresy meter to 100, I come to the conclusion that as human beings in the adulthood of Christianity, we ought to know that anything that is loving or merciful towards another human is more important than anything the Law says about that issue/behavior. Jesus, by his Spirit, imparted to us the mandate to Love, and the ability and necessary wisdom to do so; while granting us the freedom to Love with abandon. If the Law's purpose was to mandate love and its natural results (mercy, generosity, kindness...fruits of the Spirit stuff), and Jesus ,with his example of love, fulfilled that purpose...then I would reason that any act of love, even if it contradicts the law, is more right than keeping the law if it would mean forgoing the love.
I would love to hear any thoughts on these things. I realize I'm mostly preaching to the choir here, but it's something I've been thinking about.
If you are new to my blog, remember this when commenting: Every view is welcome and will be heard, however, please be kind.
Peace out.
If we read the bible with the idea that it documents a life, the life of the people of God, we see an interesting pattern; especially in light of God's portrayal of himself as divine parent. Our parents give birth to us, give us life, bring us into the world, create us. When we are infants, our parents care for our every need. They feed us and clothe us, keep us safe. As children, we begin to explore our environment and must be told to do this, and not to do that in order that we might learn to be caring of others, healthy and safe. As we grow into adolescence, we are taught more about having the correct motive behind our actions, love, care, wisdom, than we are told precisely what to do. We then go off into life enabled to make loving and healthy decisions on our own, no longer needing the minutiae of rules. Eventually we come to the close of life and meet with our demise, which really is only one kind of death, entering into a new kind of life.
It's an imperfect metaphor in some ways; imperfect because human life is imperfect, not because God's divine parenting is imperfect.
I see the Law as having been God's divine parenting; giving birth to humanity and initially caring for them in a "bubble" of safety and love during their infancy. As youth, they become more independent, exploring the boundaries of their environment. They are then given rules, instructed in the ways that will move them toward the goal of caring for and respecting others. As an adolescent people, it was time to teach them to make decisions out of right motives, rather than just because they are instructed to, and to set them free as adults equipped with this wisdom. When Jesus came and fulfilled the law and died, one of the outcomes was the realization that his example of love would be our motivator in life, and through and because of that, caring and respect would naturally follow without a detailed set of instructions. As a tangential aside, I have also thought about at what level we intervene in our children's lives as when they are young, versus how likely we are to intervene as they mature into adulthood. But that's another post.
According to Matthew Henry, the Law's purpose was to mandate behaviors that were loving. In Matthew 5 we are told that Jesus came to fulfill the Law; that is, to set into motion that which the law was trying to accomplish in the people; Love. In Matthew 22 we are told that in Jesus' own words, the most important laws are those about loving God and loving others, and that all the law and the prophets hang on these two. In fact, Jesus himself goes so far as to break the law, (working on the Sabbath, for instance) saying that if it is more loving or merciful to do something even if it is breaking the law, then do so; for the keeping of the law does not atone for an unmerciful act. Love supersedes the law.
So, then, setting my heresy meter to 100, I come to the conclusion that as human beings in the adulthood of Christianity, we ought to know that anything that is loving or merciful towards another human is more important than anything the Law says about that issue/behavior. Jesus, by his Spirit, imparted to us the mandate to Love, and the ability and necessary wisdom to do so; while granting us the freedom to Love with abandon. If the Law's purpose was to mandate love and its natural results (mercy, generosity, kindness...fruits of the Spirit stuff), and Jesus ,with his example of love, fulfilled that purpose...then I would reason that any act of love, even if it contradicts the law, is more right than keeping the law if it would mean forgoing the love.
I would love to hear any thoughts on these things. I realize I'm mostly preaching to the choir here, but it's something I've been thinking about.
If you are new to my blog, remember this when commenting: Every view is welcome and will be heard, however, please be kind.
Peace out.
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