A Fresh Perspective

In his letter to the church at Philippi , it is fairly obvious that Paul is concerned about some influences that were steering the church away from the teaching he had imparted and the example he had modeled. It seems that there were two different kinds of pressures being exerted upon the church. One influence pressed for legalistic obedience to rules (3:2), while the other invited a casting off of all restraints (3:18–19). These two influences are still around and they tempt us in very subtle ways. One calls us to take part in an economy of meritocracy, of tit-for-tat. Its appeal is to the calculating mind where there are clear winners and losers.  The other influence entices us with appeals to freedom to shed boundaries that we think we do not need. Here the message is: Just let yourself go, don’t worry about the consequences, live for the moment. There is certainly something to be said for living in the moment, but living in self-indulgence without regard for boundaries is...

In Mark 7, when Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees for ignoring the laws of purity pertaining to table fellowship (in this case, the ceremonial washings), he responds by noting how they favored external rites and laws over real spiritual transformation. Jesus supplies one example: The practice of declaring one’s possessions Corban (dedicated to God). Apparently, by setting apart their possessions as sacred, they sheltered them from secular use, even for aging and ailing parents. There is that old joke about W.C. Fields who claimed to read his Bible every day. A skeptical friend called him out, “Every day, Bill? Really?” Fields said, “Yep, looking for loopholes.” Well, let’s be honest. We are all looking for loopholes. We just don’t want to admit it. In the book Dead Man Walking , Sister Helen Prejean is talking to rapist and killer Robert Willie as his spiritual advisor. Willie has not faced his demons. He has not experienced any remorse for the horrible crimes he commi...