Truth and Discernment
We routinely disqualify testimony that would plead for extenuation. That is, we are so persuaded of the rightness of our judgment as to invalidate evidence that does not confirm us in it. Nothing that deserves to be called truth could ever be arrived at by such means. Marilynne Robinson, The Death of Adam
Matt Brown and I were chatting Monday night. Here’s a blurb.
Matthew: A Catholic can commit a murder and go to confession and receive absolution, but the priest will give penance. What is penance, but the ‘turning away’. So a good priest would say: ‘ your penance is to take the earthly consequences of your sin’
Matthew: The Wolf (murderer, abuser) probably was a victim at some point and has a story and needs grace, but even though there is love there are consequences.
me: ? Yeah?
Matthew: Yeah what? People mistake grace for letting someone off the hook.
People mistake love for leniency
Matthew: Jesus and the tax collector who pays people back more than he stole shows that God is interested in justice. Heck, the crucifiction shows that.
BUT God is also interested in love, grace, compassion, and truth
So that quote struck me
Struck me in light of a lot of the conversations we had yesterday
The conversation Matt mentions above was about castrating sex offenders. Apparently, there is a move (I’ve forgotten where) to make castration an option after the first offense and mandatory after the second. Certainly, we want to make sure that sex offenders never get the chance to repeat their crimes. But, is castration the answer? The Hemphills and the Browns had a lively after-dinner discussion.
The way this quote strikes me is that, to me, it confirms the need to be in community. We all see life through a lens. Last year, Ed used the metaphor of the slats of a fence. I thought that was brilliant. People who are genuinely seeking Truth will arrive at some type of truth. But, like looking at a yard through the slats of a fence, each person will see Truth a little differently. Their understanding of Truth will be colored by their experiences, their histories, their belief systems. Their truth may be correct, but, by definition, it will be too small to be Truth.
God is love. Yes, He says that about Himself in His Word. (That means it’s in the Bible.)
It is not God’s will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (That’s in the Bible, too.)
So, God doesn’t want anyone to perish. That’s certainly one slat. But, what do you do, then, with verses like, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (That’s in the Bible, too. Revelation 21:8)
To help get your head around some truths that are too big for one person, you need other people. You need other perspectives, other points of view. Sometimes you need your friends to challenge you when you are “disqualifying testimony”.
Evergreen is really, really good at loving people. But, do we do an adequate job of challenging each other? Have you been challenged? Is your truth larger now than it was a year or two ago? Has your picture of God changed? How? Does the quote strike you differently? How?
Exploding the Box
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Not to do my own PR, but this is why Dale and I are offering the boot camp. It’s not that we’re so super qualified to challenge people: it’s that we want to. We want to create an environment of challenge for people who are looking for that. To help people start to see the sides of their boxes and maybe look for ways to expand or explode those boxes!
One other point: the Bible itself is a good way to get that community and perspective. You have to interpret the verse about the lack of fire in the context of Jesus’ actions and the words of the Old Testament prophets. The Bible’s differences and inconsistencies shouldn’t be harmonized away in embarrassment: they should be examined and studied so we can understand the message and be comfortable with the tension and paradoxes.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:20 am
I agree that the Bible provides perspective, but I’m not so sure about community. When we read Scripture, the best we can do is to try to be aware of our own prejudices and to try to see beyond them. Certainly, the Holy Spirit can and does aid us in this. So, there is community with God when we approach the Bible with a teachable heart. But, I think reading/studying/thinking/struggling with the Bible should not be primarily a solo sport. I think we can gain a better understanding of how our “box” limits our view of God when we engage with other truth seekers.
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Yes, good clarification. I think I was thinking about how there is a community of faith within the Bible, and we need to consider that as a whole. We need to be thinking about the heroes of the faith, for example, and learning about the women role models, and all that good stuff. But definitely, we need input from living people!
September 5th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
First of all the quote is using too many big words that I do not understand it. So I will just comment on what I do understand.
I think casteration for a sex offender is dispicable.
I think when Jesus said that those people mentioned above will burn in the fiery lake, I think it refers to continuously acting in those ways, not having a heart that is ever going to repent. Unfortunately these people are usually marginalized in our society and never get the help they need or friends they need or the love and grace they need. Let’s strive to visit the margin more and more.
About reading the Bible, I think it is a process. As a young follower of Christ I had no clue what it said nor meant and I needed help. As I grow more and more I find it easier to read on my own but still need study notes, commentaries, etc. However, I still like to bounce what I read in scripture off friends. No matter where I am in my spiritual journey, I will always need people around to talk to about what I have read and to listen to them tell me about what they have read.