Jamie Greening's Blog, page 50
November 8, 2015
A RESPONSE TO BEN CARSON’S PYRAMID SCHEME
November 5, 2015
MY TOP FIVE JAMES BOND MOVIES
October 25, 2015
NEW FACEBOOK TECHNOLOGY?
October 14, 2015
ROMANS 16 FROM THE GREEK TEXT
October 6, 2015
ROMANS FIFTEEN FROM THE GREEK TEXT
September 28, 2015
WATER ON MARS–FIRST REACTIONS
September 24, 2015
ROMANS 14 FROM THE GREEK TEXT
September 22, 2015
WHEN SHOULD YOU WORRY ABOUT THE BLOOD MOON?
When should you worry about the coming of the blood moon?
This, this chart here, this is not helpful.
The blood moon is happening on Monday, 28 September 2015 and is supposed to mean something significant, according to John Hagee.
The question many of you who might be asking is, “Should I be concerned about it?”
The answer, for me, anyway, is that I will start worrying about blood moons when I have figured out what it means for me to “Love the Lord with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength,” and, “To love my neighbor as myself” as well as, “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.” When I figure these out, I think I’ll have a little more time for obtuse readings of Scripture, crackpot theories, marketing schemes, and self-important false prophets. Until then, though, I think I’ll just keep trying to understand what the plain, obvious meaning of things are and how I can work on being a better follower of Christ.
The end of the world is not my concern. It is God’s.
Other End of the World Posts
The Rapture Will Not Be This Weekend
image from http://cosmicparx.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-blood-moon-hoax-of-john-hagee.html
September 18, 2015
ROMANS 13 FROM THE GREEK TEXT
It all comes back to love and how you treat your neighbor. At least, that is what Paul is teaching us in Romans 13. What Paul does that is different than Jesus in Matthew 22:36-40 (but not contrary to Jesus, just an extrapolation of it) is he pushes it out to the logical assumptions about political and social behavior.
Translation Notes
The most fitful translation choice for me was in verse 7. There is a remarkable brevity in the way Paul frames these words–literally something like “taxes the taxes, toll the toll, fear the fear, honor the honor.” I’ve added the verbs “due” and “pay” at the beginning and end of the verse for clarity, but those are not present in this part of the sentence. They are borrowed from earlier.
In verse 6 Paul uses the word “leitourgoi” which is connected to the root for our word ‘liturgy’, and it is sometimes used to describe Christian worship or service. Here, however, it is used to denote the secular, civil servant whom Paul also calls a servant of God. It is fascinating that in 12:1, when he talks about worship, he uses another word, “latreo.” Even though there are two different words, I wonder how connected in Paul’s mind is the work of Christian service and civil service?
One more translation issue. Most English renderings add the word “first” in verse 11, when we “first believed.” That is a giant liberty, for the word just is not there. I don’t like it, because it implies a second (or third, or fourth etc…) moment of belief. Paul is chronological here, recalling that time when we believed in Jesus, but the modifier “first” is unnecessary and confusing.
Theological Notes
I feel like these verses need a fresh reading in our current cultural context here in the United States. Paul lived in a time when the Roman Empire governed everything, and Rome was anything but moral. Rome was an empire built of power, lust, and greed. Whatever evil someone thinks might be going on in our government today, it pales in comparison to the evil in Rome–all throughout the empire. Yet, Paul can say that the imperium (lictor, likely) is chosen by God for the task. It can only mean that in the larger society (not within the church, mind you, c/f 1 Cor. 5) order, peace, submission, and the public good trumps personal morality. That is a hard pill for many, me included, to swallow but that seems to be the teaching.
Chapter Thirteen
1. Every soul must be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and they have been assigned to it by God.
2. So, those opposing authority resist the command of God, and those who resist authority will receive judgement.
3. For those governing are not to be feared by those doing good work, but those doing evil. If you do not want to fear the authorities, do good and you will have praise for it.
4. For he is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, you will fear, for it is not for nothing that he carries a sword as a servant of God—an executor of wrath—to those practicing evil.
5. Therefore, it is necessary to be subject, not only because of wrath, but also because of the conscience.
6. This is why you pay taxes, for those are servants of God, constantly attending to the order of things.
7. Pay everyone what is due. If taxes are due, then taxes, if a toll, then a toll, if fear, then fear, if honor is due, then pay honor.
8. Owe no one anything except to love one another, for the one who loves others has fulfilled the law.
9. For, “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not lust,” and whatever other commandments, are summarized in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
10. Love for the neighbors does no evil, therefore it is a fulfillment of the law of love.
11. Especially knowing the time, because the hour is now already here to wake from sleep, for our salvation is nearer than when we believed.
12. The night advances, but daytime is at hand, therefore take off the works of darkness. Put on the weapons of light.
13. Let us walk properly as in the daylight—not in orgies, drunkenness, in bed, in debauchery, rivalries or jealousy.
14. Put on the Lord Jesus, Messiah. Do not satisfy your desires.
September 15, 2015
KIM DAVIS IS AN INKBLOT
Actually, I suppose the correct terminology is that the Kim Davis situation is a Rorschach test.
What do yo see?
You’ve seen those before–where a person is shown an inkblot and then asked what it looks like. One person sees a butterfly, another person might see two witches high fiving each other, and yet another person sees genitalia.
The point of the test is that it gives insight into the mindset of the person.
That is what Kim Davis is.
Some people look at her actions and her situation (if you don’t know the situation, click here for a good summary), and they see a heroine. They see someone who took a stand for something she believed in and suffered publicly and personally for it. They see her as a conservative Rosa Parks. Parks would not give up her seat, Davis will not give up her signature.
Other people look at her actions and see a lawless criminal who should be jailed. They see her as an anachronism who denies other people their legal rights. She is Jim Crow incarnate, a person who wants to use the legal system in order to impose a prejudiced civil order.
Saint or Sinner? A little of both?
These views do not tell us anything, though, about Kim Davis. These views teach us about the people who behold her in the media spectacle.
For the record, I believe Kim Davis should have either signed the marriage licenses according to law or resigned. Every job has aspects of it that are unpleasant, or even, abominable. I know that when I pastored full time our church had policies and traditions that drove me crazy and were sometimes, in my opinion, idolatrous. However, I did my job. Every hill is not a hill to die on.
However, Kim Davis is not evil. She might be misguided in her efforts to publicly practice her faith, but she is not the devil. Nor is she a heroine. She has done nothing particularly praiseworthy other than to become famous for believing something that a great many people believe. Let us not rush to make her a martyr, even though I think most people will agree that throwing her in jail was probably a dramatic overreaction.
She is a human being who tried to make a decision she could live with when she went to sleep at night. She was doing nothing more than attempting to be true to her own conscience. Even if we disagree with her, can we not acknowledge at least a little nobility there? A little love for Kim Davis? Just a little? Isn’t civil disobedience an American virtue?
Kim Davis’ inkblot reveals a people who desire sensationalism more than truth. Consider this for a moment: Gay marriage is the law of the land, and Kim Davis, to my knowledge, is the only incident of this kind. There are over 3,100 counties, parishes, boroughs and districts in the United States, and in only one has the issue been this contentious. Will there be others? Of course. But the point is by-in-large Americans observe the rule of law.
Kim Davis is simply not that big of a deal. It is how people perceive it, react to it, overreact to it, manipulate it, spin it, and abuse it that matters. So when we look at her inkblot, we don’t see a woman who feels stuck between a rock and a hard spot. Instead, some see intolerance, prejudice, and hate; some see courage, bravery, and faith. Who she is, and what the issues really are, have been lost as she turns becomes Facebook meme fodder.
When I look at the Kim Davis inkblot, I see a nation that has falsely believed there are only two polar opposites on every issue and shouting at each other, spewing insults, and name calling are the only appropriate responses to the outrage of the day.
Rorschach image from google.com and kim davis mug snot from nydailynews.com
