If my memory serves me, you and I have been over this ground before.
However, it's worthy of revisiting and relevant to the thread.
We may not agree on all the particulars, but can we, with respect... allow each other to make a defense of our position.
I don't know how many times I have said it... this is difficult ground for all of us.
I think rather than saying
the way it is, I'll be mindful to couch it in terms of my own beliefs and interpretation of the issues. We all have much company as to our beliefs, but it's just more respectful to give it as my own opinion.
As far as righteousness being in the doing, you are right of course. And in that sense, I don't think the issue is one of external righteousness. I do not deny that in may ways, we are more moral rather than less. I am not saying we are not good people in numerous ways. I am saying that because of that, we have fallen into the trap of self adulation. And that corruption of soul, is the decrease in morality.
You talk of womens rights and sexism? It was Christ who had the audacity to speak to the woman at the well, even though she was a Sumaritan and an adulterer. That's a big no-no in terms of the Jewish culture of the day. but He was there to overturn their applecart and show them the Spirit of the law. They had turned it into a public display of outward signs of piety. Those who performed these religious acts and cerimonies the best, were labeled as the righteous.
You talk of slavery in terms of racial bigotry, the Bible speaks to slavery in terms of economics (with the exception I will note at the end of the paragraph). It used to be, that if you got in over your head, you didn't file bankruptcy, you righted the wrong with time served. And in some ways this makes much sense. In the case of the Egyptions and the Jews, here you see a case of racial slavery that evolved.
What about slavery in terms of sin? We are prisoners of our own making! Jesus came to release us from the justice we deserve. He took responsibility for it, that way none of us can claim we are more righteous than the other. The only hero is the one who can handle that kind of label. Dare I say that I would not want it! it would destroy me, because I know my own heart.
Perhaps you think you could handle such fame far better than I. You probably could. But the issue is whether you could handle it flawlessly.
Public Relations being what it is, we all need to do some good things to promote our image. The image of the beast is highly gaurded. It is worshipped above all else. It is not even acknowledged as existing for fear of judgement of our neighbor. I have admitted to my true nature, and uncovered the image I once protected and look how some of you have judged me. But it is already judged and in need of being forgiven.
I think you are taking Jesus words out of context by excluding all the available information. What you offered was true, but must be put together into a broader puzzle. Consider the words of our Lord:
Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. 25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
As for good deeds Ringo:
Luke 18:18-30
18 A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 19 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'" 21 "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said. 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
I know what you will likely say Ringo, and if not you then possibly jar...
'Jesus is talking about money and not worldviews'. And He is, in order to make a spiritual point. And it is
that denial that Jesus is speaking about! Public Relations being what it is, we all do some good things to promote our image. The image of the beast is highly gaurded. It is worshipped above all else.
Our most valuable possesion is our self image and the worldview we hold that anchors that illusion! It's true condition is not even acknowledged as existing for fear of judgement by our neighbor. And rightly so...
...I have admitted to my true nature, and uncovered the image I once protected and look how some of you have judged me. No more fig leaves... I'm naked and exposed. I was once rich in Spirit, but am now poor. A lowly and despised man of honesty, who is perceived as threatening the idols you have made of yourselves. As for my own image, I have given it over to Christ. And that is weakness to this crowd, with it's catcalls and heckling.
And that is the beauty of Jesus... He speaks to the woman at the well, not in terms of condemnation, but in terms of salvation from what is already acknowledged. She admitted that the man she was living with, was not her husband. She was honest about herself and was able to handle the shame. So Jesus words were 'good news' in a world that condemns the so called
unrighteous. In todays secular world, the 'real' nature of morality has been uprooted in exchange for the external goodness we project. And the better we are... the higher the danger of selfrighteousness. Shame has been labeled a threat to self esteem.
In one of His books, Lewis said, (paraphrased from memory)
"Remember when we were back on earth, and there were things too hot to touch? shame is like that! Like a hot drink that will nourish you if you handle it carefully, but handle it any other way, and it will scald."
™ Version 4.2