I'm not a big fan of what are commonly referred to as "the Pastoral Epistles", those short letters at the tail end of the New Testament which purport to be from Paul of Tarsus, but are probably later, written by anonymous disciples in the faith communities Paul founded. That was not considered cheating or plagiarism. It's the way things were done back then. You addressed a problem in the way that you believed the great teacher would have addressed it, based on what you knew of the original teaching.
My problem with the pastorals is that, as often happens in second and third generations of teachings, they tend to be more "tame" in regard to culture -- there's often an effort to make what was once radical teaching more socially acceptable, less upsetting to the powers that be. Oh, there's an effort to be faithful, to be sure! But the disciples have seen the original teaching reshaped by the culture in which it is lived. So Paul's radical teaching that ethnicity, social standing and gender have no meaning in the Christian fellowship (Galatians 3:27-28) gets turned into advice about how women are to behave within the community so that they don't offend the non-Christian culture (1 Timothy 2:8-13).
But in my reading today, something jumped out of 1 Timothy that caught my attention. In the New Revised English Bible, 1 Timothy 1:5-7 reads "This instruction [which "Paul" has told young Timothy to share in Ephesus as a correction to what the leaders there have been teaching] has love as its goal, the love which springs from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a genuine faith. Through lack of these some people have gone astray into a wilderness of words. They set out to be teachers of the law, although they do not understand either the words they use or the subjects about which they are so dogmatic."
I thought about all the groups (and one in particular, which tends to spend a lot of time in the news) who use Christianity as a club, to beat up other people, who use it to vilify the people of whom they are afraid. The Gospel has the goal of teaching us how to live so that we may love; not to manufacture it ourselves, but to love the way we have already been loved. The letter writer is explicit about this: "I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has made me equal to the task; I thank him for judging me worthy of trust...although in the past I had met him with abuse and persecution and outrage...the grace of our Lord was lavished upon me, along with the faith and love which are ours in Christ Jesus...Here is a saying you may trust, one that merits full acceptance: 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners'; and among them I stand first [an aside here -- first among sinners, not among the saved]. But I was mercifully dealt with for this very purpose, the Jesus Christ might find in me the first occasion for displaying his inexhaustible patience, and that I might be typical of all who were in the future to have faith in him and gain eternal life. To the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever! Amen." (vv. 12-17)
There is so much fear in church life. So much hatred thrown around in the name of God, so much violence done under a twisted misunderstanding of Christ's purpose and nature and will. Why and how do people who claim to take the Bible literally (let alone seriously!) manage to avoid "Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who treat you spitefully...Give to everyone who asks you; if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back. Treat others as you would like them to treat you...if you do only good to those who do good to you, what credit is there in that?...Be compassionate, as your Father is compassionate...Do not judge and you swill not be judged; do not condemn and you will not be condemned...for whatever measure you deal out to others will be dealt to you in turn." (Luke 67:27-38, edited)?
I know, I know. I'm judging and condemning. It's a vicious circle. But what if, as Christians, we agreed that, no matter what else happened, we would make those principles the most basic foundation of our life together, of the way we follow Christ, the way we express our faith? Maybe, just maybe, our children and grandchildren saw that faith made us generous and courageous and inviting instead of closed and anxious and rejecting, they might be curious about faith and about life in community instead of running the other way.
No comments:
Post a Comment