Scripture: 2 Kings 5:18
But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, help may the Lord forgive your servant for this.
Thought for the Day: People of faith always exist in tension with their culture. Even in places where a certain theology is entwined with civil law, sovaldi there is still tension, look because there is never 100% agreement in any religious system—40,000 Christian denominations* prove this basic reality. There are always periods when we have to balance our beliefs with cultural demands, and that’s fine, as long as we don’t let culture creep into our psyche and destroy the foundations of our faith. For example, the argument over gun ownership in this country, and the number of “Christians” who won’t give up their guns until they’re pried from their “cold, dead hands,” is shocking.
Jesus was a pacifist—the ultimate pacifist. When he’s being dragged to the cross, a death Romans reserved for the most heinous political dissidents, he doesn’t pick up a sword and kill his oppressors. He simply goes to the cross. Willingly. Jesus teaches and exemplifies peaceful resistance, the kind practiced by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi. The way of Jesus is not the way of Crusaders and Inquisitors, nor the way of anyone who solves problems violently. The way of Jesus is absolute, unwavering faith in and loyalty to God, even in the face of a culture that wants to kill you for talking back.
I’m afraid modern culture has finally got the better of Christians (and other religious groups), because everywhere I look, I see people calling themselves people of faith, then passing laws to end welfare, restrict food stamps, keep immigrants out of the country, restrict voting rights to people who are any color other than white, and go to war at the drop of a hat. Those are cultural ideals that completely contradict Jesus’ revelation of a God who loves all of us equally, and commands us to care for the poor, the widow, and the orphan–not to take away their food, clothing and shelter.
No wonder Jesus wept.
Prayer: Remind me, my sweet, sweet Lord, that we are called to be a people of peaceful non-compliance, the yeast that causes bread to rise. Help us, God of Peace, bring about a new kind of humanity, by resisting the violent and selfish call of the culture that surrounds us. Help us more deeply understand and follow those great spiritual lights you so often send to us, so we may see you more clearly, and love each other more deeply. Amen.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations