These are Levitical Days . . .I'm leading a small group studying Leviticus -- actually two of them: one on Wednesday afternoons (for the home-during-the-day crowd) and one on Wednesday evenings. Love it.
I had never studied Leviticus (except for those fun abomination passages) quickly losing interest during the repetitive how-to chapters on the proper way to burn a goat. But now that we are studying this as a group, it's not only tolerable; it's fairly fascinating.
Just as I was thinking, "What does any of this really have to do with anything in our post-modern 21st Century lives?" the connections began. I'm talking about sin and accountability and who doesn't deal with that everyday? (Check out Leviticus 5 & 6 for some semi-interesting early Honor Code history.)
Discoveries:
- It is impossible to commit a sin in a vacuum. Really. Name one sin with zero community impact. Obvious examples: drunkenness, promiscuity, stealing your neighbor's goat.
- Any faith community worth it's salt (metaphor intentional) encourages accountability. If we notice destructive/unloving/hypocritical behavior, we are obliged to speak privately with sisters/brothers in Christ and lovingly call them on it.
Along this same path, Nathan moments abound this week:
- Thanks goes to S. who asked me to name what restful things I'd done this week. And to M. who always asks if I took my day off.
- Thanks to J. who asked me if I'd done something I was asking ornery colleagues to do in a recent Presbytery newsletter article. (I hadn't.)
- And I've also found myself in the Nathan role for someone else.
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5 comments:
Another thoughtful post.
As I walk through staff reviews wiht our staff and personnel committee, I'm reminded that these are not empty tasks.
Time to tend the goat....
Thanks, Jan.
Good on you for calling your presbytery to account. Those questions from the floor of presbytery can be treacherous, and moderators should be extra-vigilant. Down here in the Presbytery of Slow Learners we've never had that particular question, praise God, but I have seen instances where questioners persist in asking the same question over and over (usually on some point of doctrine) trying to get the answer they want to hear, rather than accepting the answer they get. It's an unhealthy exercise all around.
What! You don't have the new version of Leviticus? Written by the politically correct elite scholars of the day? There is no more sin! Brothers and sisters who go against the law are celebrated as innovators and taken out for beer. If someone gets your goat, you must have wanted your goat to be got. And any sin that leaves a mess is considered forgiven when vacuumed up!
;)
If someone asked a question like that in one of our Ecclesiastical Councils, I can only imagine the uproar. Of course our standards are phrased in a somewhat softer fashion..."lives a Christian lifestyle" leaves a lot of room for interpretation.
Great post, Jan. Food for thought...
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