Prominent Figures and Ourselves in Perspective

Often we find critiques of ministers or prominent religious figures. I think we should always look at the golden rule and judge any critique we read or write by the golden rule.

"Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself."

Often the teaching of Jesus is clearly broken in the critique of ministers and leaders in the church by other ministers and leaders in the church. They would cry foul if they where pressed on many issues on which they press others.

Maybe the feeling is that the spotlight on more prominent figures means that they are held to a higher standard. The bible does say that ministers are held to a higher standard but I do not think prominent ministers should be held to a severely higher standard than average pastors.

Maybe a good question for any critique of a prominent figure would be: would I feel uncomfortable if the pastor of my small local churches in my area were critiqued this way. Often the answer would be "no."

Too often the critique of prominent religious figures goes past reason. We need to always doubt ourselves and the motives of others who wish to critique any figure. It is not that critique is wrong but that it must always be done with care and thought.

True Friendship

Friendship in the deepest sense requires an interest in the well being of the other. It places us in the odd situation of desiring the well being of the other even if it means we will see far less of the friend.

We can find that at times our friends seem resentful of good things which place some distance in our relationship. In a sense these friendships fall far short of ideal. The friendship is placed above the mutual good of those in the friendship.

It is a strange dynamic but the best friendships are those where the friends place the happiness of their friend above the friendship. Many shallow friendships tend to place the friendship over the happiness of each other.

You see the difference is that in the shallow friendships each person is searching for happiness on their own. In a deeper friendship each friend is searching for their own happiness and the happiness of the other in the friendship.

You often see that joy is more complete when we have a bit less desire in finding it for ourselves. We should desire to have joy and happiness, but if we do not desire it for others often our joy and happiness is incomplete.

It is as if an essential element of joy and happiness to be truly full is that we actively seek the joy and happiness of others. It is of course what one would expect from the bible.

The bible describes the law of God as sweet and pleasant. Love for God is a joy presented in the bible and the Christian walk as a easy burden compared to living in sin.

You see we often doubt the bible's correctness on these issues. How can the law of God and worship of God make my life better? We are often tempted to think this way.

We act as if God doesn't know us better than we know ourselves. The other fact is that we place individuality to such a degree that we cannot imagine religion and many of the laws fitting into that mold.

Of course if we tried out the bible we often find that its way is better. But it often takes time. Sin tends to look for good in the moment at the expense of the future. The bible always protects human happiness in the long term against shortsightedness.

When we meet the bible and we feel the bible is wrong it is usually just a matter of time if we keep an open mind before we see the wisdom of the bible.

A Rational View of Ourselves

Often it is easy in life to judge ourselves by an easier standard than we judge others by.  I did this or that because I was tired.  Or I acted poorly for this or that reason.

But when someone else acts poorly we never allow for mitigating circumstances.  It is often that we judge ourselves by an easier standard than others.  We always give ourselves the benefit of the doubt.

The bible tells us that we will be judged by the standard with which we judge.  We should always strive to judge others more gently than we judge ourselves.  Because our sinful hearts will often cause us to undervalue our fault in things.

It is always easy for us to see why we are at less fault than others think and very hard for us to imagine why others may be at less fault than we think.  Our nature is quick to defend ourselves.  It is what makes progress in the Christian life so hard.

You see we cannot do better if we refuse to see how we are wrong.  If how we are wrong is always a lack of sleep or not a good breakfast or a bad day at work than we will never grow.  You see if we sleep more, have a good breakfast, and a good day at work then it will become a bad commute or an unexpected bill.

There is always something to blame other than ourselves!  It takes great humility to simply accept that when we fail there is something beyond the mitigating factors which causes our failure.  Yes the poor sleep or bad traffic did not help but they are only part of the explanation and the least helpful part.

Forgiving Ourselves and Action

Often in life we need to have an attitude of forgiving ourselves in advance. It is not that we should seek to sin; that would be wrong. But often attempting to avoid sin at all costs leads to debilitating inaction.

Maybe we need to have a conversation with a brother or a sister in Christ about something going on. Maybe we need to confront this or that wrong in the world. You see if we are too concerned about not making a mistake we cannot work out our faith in the world..

The bible calls us to act. Sometime when we act against a wrong in the world things can be strange and at times a bit messy.

We need to allow ourselves the grace to understand that it is better to act out of a sincere heart and enter into a difficult situation than it is to seek purity at all costs. Of course the sincerity is of great importance.

I believe at times our sincerity may be best judged by our reluctance to enter into the situation to fix the wrong. You see we value peace and unity, but we know action is necessary, because peace at all costs is not true peace.

Sometimes we need to act and realize that if we have acted by faith we have done right whatever happens. You see God calls us to act, but success is what he grants.

We can act in great faith pleasing to God and not right a wrong. He calls us to act in faith, but the result is in his hands not ours.