February 5, 2004

• Still Thinking ... (and quoting the Bible )

  
  

  Sam wants me to quit dinking around with all this Civil Stuff and write how I think the law should read based on a Biblical worldview given that our system of government derives from the Judeo-Christian perspective.  It's a fair request.  Once before I wrote out a long blog comparing basic worldviews.  They can essentially be distilled into about five unique metaphysical systems.  (I included Postmodernism in my blog as the fifth knowing that it isn't a complete view but because I think it provides a powerful corrective to some of the assumptions of the others.)  If you have a half hour to kill you might want to check out that bit of dry writing here.  I hope that I haven't deceived anyone into thinking that I subscribe to anything other than Biblical Theism for my own metaphysical understanding. 

  
  

  But here's what I think.  I believe I can argue that everything I've said all week is consistent with Biblical ethics.  Essentially, I've been saying that our Civil Law needs to be written in such a way as to provide the broadest possible protection of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness (or property).  This protection should apply whether the persons involved are living according to Biblical ethics or not.  This is not a new question and essentially it was answered by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, "You have heard it said that 'You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemies.'  But I say to you, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?  Do not even the tax-gatherers do the same?  And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others?  Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  (Matthew 5:43-48)

  
  

  One of the convictions that I came to about my own practice of Christianity some years back was a very humbling realization for me.  It is that if I am to follow the example of Jesus, then my job on earth is to love far beyond the standards of my culture.  And I'm not talking about warm mushy feelings here.  That's something else that I think we get wrong.  We read the Bible with our 21st century eyes and understanding and we forget that we have a very different view of love than has been held for most of human history.  When you see the word love in the Bible, it's not a noun naming an emotion of pleasantly warm feelings toward another person, it's a verb.  And it means that you perform actions that are in the best interest of the other person.  The particular topic of discussion this week has been same-sex civil union.  The implications of civil union are that persons entering this state would be eligible for certain benefits such as health insurance and property protections.  Does anyone sincerely believe that withholding these benefits from people who's lifestyle doesn't conform to the Bibical ethic is in their best interest? 

  
  

  It's a scary world out there folks.  And I'll be the first to admit that I have my own fears about entering it.  I've recently had a health issue that made me have serious concerns.  For the past 10 years, I've been covered by my husband's health insurance which is a particularly good plan by all standards.  I'm looking at the fact that once my legal status changes, I'll be dropped.  All of a sudden the doctor's visit that I now pay $25 out of pocket for, jumps to over $100.  I had a conversation with my Doctor about health insurance regulations and what not and he explained to me that he is required to charge non-insured patients that amount because of the way the health insurance contract reads.  If he is going to accept insurance money, he has to abide by their rules.  What's it like for someone who's sick, what's it like for someone who lives with and loves someone who's sick, knowing that they can't pay for medical care?  I've read the studies seen the reports indicating that same-sex couples have higher than average medical costs.  The usual interpretation has been that the homosexual lifestyle is inherently unhealthy.  But an equally valid interpretation of these data would be that of course their costs are higher, they don't have the same access to medical insurance that others have. 

  
  

  Several people this week have made the point that the blessing of a nation is contingent upon the people of that nation conforming to God's law.  This is true.  But I'll point out that the Biblical standard for determining whether or not a nation conforms is to look at those who claim to be a part of the people of God.  Remember the verse in 2 Chronicles that we quote around the fourth of July?  "If MY people who are called by MY name will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."  Folks, and now I'm talking to my Christian brothers and sisters, we really need to get over worrying about the sin in our neighbor's life.  His sin is not our problem.  Frankly, God is not surprised when the lost sin and I'm not sure how we got to the point that we are surprised.  Have we all forgotten that there but for the grace of God go I?  The real issue if you want to talk about sin, is the sin of God's people.  And the promise of scripture is not that the land is healed or punished based on the sin of those outside the family of faith, it's the sin of God's own people that causes him to withhold the blessing.

  
  

  Jesus gave out a standard in John 13:34-35 that we're familiar with, but I don't think we've grasped the full implication of.  "A new commandment I give to you that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."  To love as Jesus loved?  No, we don't even come close.  Imagine if the leprous approached us today, would we automatically extend our hand in healing?  Or would we first want to examine their lifestyle to see whether they bought beer last Saturday night?  Would we bandage their flesh?  Or would we ask them first about their relationship with God?  Would we touch them and offer comfort and Jesus did?  Or would we give them a lecture about sin and tell them to come back when they got their life in order?    Jesus healed lepers who didn't even bother to say "thanks," did he turn around and make them leprous again?

  
  

  We don't encounter a leprous person every day ... so substitute that example with the kind of people we find repulsive.  How to you respond to the racist bigot in your office?  Do you find ways to reach out and bless that person?  How about the man who brags that he cheated on his income taxes?  Or the woman who's been with four different men in four different weeks?  Or the man who uses drugs or crawls into the bottle because he can't face his life?  What's your attitude toward these people?  What is your attitude toward your homosexual neighbor?  Because when I read my Bible, I find that the first thing God looks at and cares about isn't my neighbor, it's me.  Remember what Jesus said?  Before you worry about the splinter in your neighbor's eye, worry about the log in your own. 

  
  

  I think that Christians should be at the front line of the debate saying YES lets make sure that anyone who is willing to enter into the legal contract - which is what we're talking about here - anyone who is willing to enter into the legal contract to share life responsibility with another person should be able to have access to the benefits that accrue to that commitment.  For years we heard that the main problem of homosexuality was promiscuity, well - folks here's an answer to that problem.  Shouldn't we embrace those who make that commitment to be monogamous?  If we believe what we've been saying, this is at the very least a step in the right direction.

  
  

  If you've been a Christian who tries to talk with non-Christians, who tries to explain that God loves them so much that he died for them, you know that the barrier you have to overcome first isn't their belief or unbelief in God, it's the unloving/hateful attitude they perceive from Christians.  I wonder how that perception would change if we started looking for ways to bless the people we consider our enemies.  I wonder what it would do to our hearts to start seeing people as God sees them?  I wonder what it would be like to talk to non-believers in a world where the Christians were known as the people who loved unconditionally ...  

  
  

   

  
  

     

  • 9:28 am
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