The Christian Life

The Christian Life

Like the lilies of the fields (or in this case the tulips) display joy and happiness.

Visit the small island of Mainau in Lake Constance in southern Germany to be uplifted by colour. Experience here the joy that life should be.

I am sure that I am not the only person saddened by the internal strife in modern-day Syria. The indiscriminate bombing, the barbaric beheading of "the enemy", the attempted genocide. Do we live in a world where so little value is placed on the lives of other humans? Where has all the love gone?  But then I am also very disturbed when I read Chapter 6 of the Book of Joshua - to mention but one graphic description of warfare in these same regions three and a half thousand years ago.

Reading from my King James Version , Joshua 6: 21: "And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword." My New International Version attempts to rationalise this action by saying, "They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword everything thing in it...". No matter which version is read, the fact remains that this also is cold-blooded genocide.

This attitude of dealing so harshly with one's enemies - be they religious or not - has carried on down throughout the centuries. I have recently been reading a little about the situation in France in the 15/16 centuries when there was conflict between the dominant Catholic Church and the Protestant group known as the Huguenots. This was part of my family research rather than a specific interest in history of this era.  My forebears were faced with the options of becoming Catholic or leaving everything and fleeing for their lives. So it was that many Huguenots, opting to save their live and practise their beliefs,  became scattered throughout the Protestant areas of Europe.

This expulsion of the French Protestant Christians is just one example in the history of Christianity when the actions of the Church were at odds with the basic principles on which it was built. I will not sadden you with more extreme cases of Church tyranny.

I am unable to satisfactorily explain why this has been the case. Nor, by the way, why Joshua and his army thought that their God wanted them to commit genocide.  Explanations have been suggested, many of which boil down to the fact that the Church consists of sinful human beings. I do believe, however, that the churches have worried too much about theology and not enough about what it means to live a life as proposed by Jesus. I don't see Jesus as a theologian. Rather, he was concerned that each person should live a full and fulfilling life.

It has often been said but needs repeating: "Take time to smell the roses".

It was Paul who started this theology thing. Well, what would one expect? He was a Pharisee and they were concerned with theology, laws and theory. I don't believe that it has been Jesus'  message that has caused all the squabbles and atrocities carried out in his name or the name of his Church. It has been the theology which has been built up around his life.

Friends: Who cares if some are baptised as babies and others later in life?

                Who cares if men or women preach God's message?

                Why should arguments over the real presence (or various alternatives) in the Lord's Supper       (or one of its alternative names) cause such deep divisions?

I think Jesus would turn over in his grave if he knew what humankind has done to his message. Maybe, that's not a good figure of speech!!

No, Jesus' message was simply love and acceptance. Love yourself, but love God and your fellow human beings more.

This is where the rubber hits the road. Jesus showed us the way. Through his life and actions we are able to snatch a glimpse of what God is :

                * He helped those in need.

                * He fed the hungry.

                * He healed the sick.

                * He associated with the fringe-dwellers in his society.

                * He accepted people as they were.

                * And so on ... and so on....

                * He died for what he believed in. 

People do not see Jesus when they see you (or me) reciting the Apostles' Creed, or the Nicene Creed, or the Athanasian Creed.

They do not see Jesus when they see two theologians discussing the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

Nor do they see Jesus when they see people in church solemnly moving up to the altar to receive a sip of wine and a wafer of bread.

 

It's time to live a life of peace and contentment. Enjoy life - Don't take it.

BUT, they see a glimpse of a loving God when they see you (or me) befriending an African refugee family which has arrived in the area.

They see a glimpse of a loving God when they see us helping a sick, aging neighbour.

They see a glimpse of a loving God when they see you (or me) coming to the aid of a homeless drunk who has just vomited in the gutter.

Or  wanting to meet a Muslim family, or a Hindu family, or a Buddhist family, or an Atheist family, and not wanting NOT to meet them.

And (and I believe this to be the crunch!) they see Christ in us when we are meeting them to be friends and to show love to them and not to proselytise.