I recently read an argument from a very wealthy person on how they had no more responsibility to help the poor than anyone else. Many interesting arguments have been written against responsibility of this or that type in recent days.
Christianity cuts to the core of the issue. The human heart is bad. Many arguments crafted by great intellectuals fail at this point. The motive is bad.
If we are not required to help others than we don't want to. You see this is the complete opposite of the intent of God.
God calls mankind into faith with himself and then asks that they seek to bless the world. God does not intend for mankind to sit and ask if inaction is permissible.
Christian love seeks what is right, loving, and true. It does not sit and ask is it ethically permissible to do nothing?
God cuts to the bottom of our human condition. We are to like Jesus who actively sought to help those in need at each moment. The question for the Christian is how we express love actively in the world, not whether it is ethical to do nothing.
Showing posts with label human condition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human condition. Show all posts
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Saturday, December 6, 2014
The Human Condition
It is interesting to see the sin nature in play in "compassion." Often the right causes are championed, but it is always causes which are far away from home.
It is frequent to see causes championed by people exclusively outside their zone of influence. The real test for whether compassion is real or fake is how it responds to what it can possibly control or influence.
True compassion takes action and seeks change as it presents itself locally. Many forms of fake compassion champion causes which are comfortable because the heart of the compassion cannot reasonably require action.
Compassion lives or falls on the willingness to take action. Compassion that does not lead to action is empty wind.
The real question for compassion is what are you personally doing. Not what are you telling others to do.
We may be able to influence others, but only after we have been credibly involved in change ourselves.
It is frequent to see causes championed by people exclusively outside their zone of influence. The real test for whether compassion is real or fake is how it responds to what it can possibly control or influence.
True compassion takes action and seeks change as it presents itself locally. Many forms of fake compassion champion causes which are comfortable because the heart of the compassion cannot reasonably require action.
Compassion lives or falls on the willingness to take action. Compassion that does not lead to action is empty wind.
The real question for compassion is what are you personally doing. Not what are you telling others to do.
We may be able to influence others, but only after we have been credibly involved in change ourselves.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Greatest Hindrance to Scriptural Interpretation
The greatest hindrance to scriptural interpretation is human cleverness. The bible says many things which are difficult to understand, but the vast majority of its teaching is very simple and plain.
Often a theologian or preacher is most in danger of theological error when they move into the Greek to explain what a text means and the meaning is not evident in the translation. It is often simply that the theologian or preacher does not like what the text means.
If you ever see a theologian or preacher seem to shift the meaning of the text with interpretation of Greek watch closely what they say on the topic in the future. Usually you have found a hole in their theology and in each subsequent text on the same topic the issue will be skirted or similarly handled.
The teaching of scripture is almost never so complicated that it requires a five to ten minute lesson on the meaning of Greek words to understand a text. Learning is at many times more neutral than is expected in the modern world. It can be used for good or evil.
Certainly learning is overall something which promotes good, but it does not change the human condition. The heart is deceitful above all things and a falling back into advanced learning to avoid the plain teaching of scripture is very common in the current day.
The bible is really a very plain book. It repeats the important messages it has repeatedly and in many forms. The bible is very insistent on being understood on critical points. That is why it repeats the same truths over and over in different styles and terminologies.
Often a theologian or preacher is most in danger of theological error when they move into the Greek to explain what a text means and the meaning is not evident in the translation. It is often simply that the theologian or preacher does not like what the text means.
If you ever see a theologian or preacher seem to shift the meaning of the text with interpretation of Greek watch closely what they say on the topic in the future. Usually you have found a hole in their theology and in each subsequent text on the same topic the issue will be skirted or similarly handled.
The teaching of scripture is almost never so complicated that it requires a five to ten minute lesson on the meaning of Greek words to understand a text. Learning is at many times more neutral than is expected in the modern world. It can be used for good or evil.
Certainly learning is overall something which promotes good, but it does not change the human condition. The heart is deceitful above all things and a falling back into advanced learning to avoid the plain teaching of scripture is very common in the current day.
The bible is really a very plain book. It repeats the important messages it has repeatedly and in many forms. The bible is very insistent on being understood on critical points. That is why it repeats the same truths over and over in different styles and terminologies.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
What We Need vs. What We Want
Needs and wants are mixed together and often indistinguishable by the human mind.
As a grad out of college I worked on a small temporary project along with a man who had worked for many years making $100,000 per year before losing his job in layoffs. The man in his sixties said that he never had children because he did not believe he could raise a family on $100,000 per year.
The point is not what income is needed to comfortably raise a family, but a confusion of needs and wants. It became clear in my discussion with the man that often he could not distinguish between the two.
It is the human condition which blinds us to reality many times. Sin has an affect on human thinking. It clouds our rationality.
Often the affect of sin on the human mind is dismissed. Many great minds are not Christians and many poor minds are Christians.
The affect of sin on the human mind is not so much on rationality such as math and logic, but on moral issues.
At times moral issues are heavily related to financial decisions. Some financial problems are moral ones at their core.
Not all sin affects all people equally but sin can often manifest in the blurring between needs and wants. Sometimes the blurring can cause the sinful mind to accumulate great wealth ignoring what it is doing in the world.
It is not always the blurring which leads to poor financial decisions, but also sometimes the blurring which leads to good financial decisions at any cost.
As a grad out of college I worked on a small temporary project along with a man who had worked for many years making $100,000 per year before losing his job in layoffs. The man in his sixties said that he never had children because he did not believe he could raise a family on $100,000 per year.
The point is not what income is needed to comfortably raise a family, but a confusion of needs and wants. It became clear in my discussion with the man that often he could not distinguish between the two.
It is the human condition which blinds us to reality many times. Sin has an affect on human thinking. It clouds our rationality.
Often the affect of sin on the human mind is dismissed. Many great minds are not Christians and many poor minds are Christians.
The affect of sin on the human mind is not so much on rationality such as math and logic, but on moral issues.
At times moral issues are heavily related to financial decisions. Some financial problems are moral ones at their core.
Not all sin affects all people equally but sin can often manifest in the blurring between needs and wants. Sometimes the blurring can cause the sinful mind to accumulate great wealth ignoring what it is doing in the world.
It is not always the blurring which leads to poor financial decisions, but also sometimes the blurring which leads to good financial decisions at any cost.
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