Renew Your Mind

Esther Reed gives this definition of christian ethics- Christian ethics is the study of the Christian ethos because it concerns the character and practice of life in Christ. (The Genesis of Ethics: On the Authority of God as the Origin of Christian Ethics) It should have been obvious that ethics has something to do with ethos, but somehow I had missed it. I like the connection- ethics being the verb, where ethos is the noun. Ethos is nicely woolly too, which gives everyone room to play around with how to describe it. Some of the best descriptions I've read have been metaphors- using music, theatre or poetry to describe how an ethos permeates decision making, behaviour, character, at both an individual and community level. And if ethics is the study of an ethos, it becomes less about rules or procedures, and more about discerning a flavour, a melody, a colour palette.... I'm reminded of Eugene Peterson's translation of Matthew 5:13-16- Let me tell you why you are he...

this phrase came up at our preaching team meeting this week, and has stuck in my head. It says a lot to me: who said a church should have walls anyway? In the NT, the church is always the people, not the building. If we start getting too pre-occupied by the "hardware" of our church (how many chairs do we need to put out? do we need a new amp for the music group? why can't the powerpoint team put the right words up for the song? etc.) we have lost sight of what we ought to be about. a lack of walls, real or metaphorical, means that the boundaries cease to exist, and the "in or out" debate stops being relevant.  I like the image of the church seeping out all around the edges, like a bright red T-shirt put into a white wash by mistake- everything else starts to turn pink :) So we should be colouring our world with truth, grace, justice, forgiveness...

Stanley Hauerwas writes: For finally what we seek is not power, or security, or equality, or even dignity, but a sense of worth gained from participation and contribution to a common adventure. (A Community of Character p. 13) This really made me think, because on the face of it, power, security, equality and dignity are  exactly what most people seem to be searching for. Their lives are orientated around the drive to be in control, to provide for their own and their family's needs, to have status and dignity. "Adventure" sounds appealing to some, at some points in life, but I question whether it is actually what most people seek, most of the time. Maybe their lives would be better for a little adventure, but that's not for me to say. Or maybe Hauerwas is making a point not about the adventure, but about the shared participation.

I need a straightforward definition of ethics. Is it knowing what's good and what's bad? Maybe, but that implies someone has judged what good means. For a Christian, is it doing what God wants? But how does that work if what God requires seems to be bad?  Don Cupitt argues that what we believe to be ethical in the West is not actually what the Bible teaches- he cites human rights, liberty and democracy as examples. The more I read, the more confused I become. Stanley Hauerwas, who I was looking forward to reading, suggests we use the Eucharist as a way into ethics.....what? How does that help? What has an institutionalised ritual, which incidentally has been the focus of much unethical infighting, got to say about how we actually live our lives day by day?

I am starting to read about ethics.... It seems the most important bit about being a Christian. If what we believe doesn't have an effect on how we behave, then surely it's all a waste of time. A faith which gets us into heaven but has no impact on the world we live in here and now is almost immoral. Maybe that's what's behind the anger of atheists such as Richard Dawkins, who find it impossible to look objectively at the claims of Christianity because for them, they are rendered invalid because of the actions of Christians throughout history. Rowan Williams, writing in 'the Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics', says that ethics is all about knowing who you are, and acting in accordance with that self-knowledge. Hmmm... I need to think about that some more

I have read Driscoll's chapter ' How Sharp the Edge? Christ, Controversy, and Cutting Words' in The Power of Words and the Wonder of God , and was very disturbed. Driscoll talks about the need for church leaders and preachers to speak 'tough and tender words', and goes on to give examples of what he considers those tough words should be. Unfortunately, he devotes an inordinate amount of time to examining Old Testament passages which criticize women. Here's an example- Virtually the entire book of Amos is a rebuke to swine. The painfully devastating satire is pointed at rich women who are fat cows and get drunk at concerts and act like Paris Hilton's BFF. (p. 85) And here's another- Proverbs is littered with similar rebukes to swine. Scattered throughout the book are repeated rebukes of loud women, whoring women, foolish women, nagging women, and contentious women. Some of the best rebukes are reserved for women who are impossible to live with. (p....

When you meet someone new, how do you identify yourself? Maybe it's nationality, or places you've lived, or job, or relationships..... If you are an expat, the question of identity becomes particularly important. In every new place, you have to start again, build an identity, struggle for significance in a new situation. So it really struck me, reading how Peter begins his first letter, that he chose to name his hearers as 'exiles'. That was their reality- they were expats, forced to flee their homeland by religious persecution, and now scattered all over the Mediterranean. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia... 1 Peter 1: 1 The whole way through his letter, Peter is aware of the way these people are seen by the world they live in...and maybe also how they feel about themselves. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles..... 1 Peter 2:11 It's tempting to "spiritualize" theses ...