Gray areas and social media rules and motives and stuff

I'd like to submit the following for the wise. It originally came to me from Dr. Danny Aiken when I was a student in his hermeneutics class. 

I think the following is useful in much decision making, and it's helpful with all social media. Lord have mercy, believers post too much stuff that is not helpful to themselves, the Body, the world and that does not bring any glory to the Lord. We need to learn what "good, clean fun" is and make the choice to not share, post, click on or express some things. 

At any rate, I refer to this set of principles quite often when working through various problems and decisions. I pray it blesses you, too. 

Paul’s Corinthian Principles

(1 Corinthians 6:12 – 11:1) 

I.                   Will this action edify self?                                         6:12

Will it build me up? 

Will it profit me? 

Will it help me personally?

II.                Will this action enslave my soul?                              6:12

Can it bring me into emotional/psychological

(even chemical) bondage?

III.             Will this action exalt the Savior?                              6:13; 10:31

Can I glorify my Lord in this activity?

IV.              Will this action encourage other saints?                   8:13

Is this a potential stumbling block to someone else?

V.                 Will this action evangelize sinners?                          10:32-33

Will this help or harm my witness for Christ?

VI.              Will this action emulate my Savior?             11:1

Is this something I could see Jesus doing?

A great injustice...

A great injustice...

In the 40+ years since Roe v. Wade, more than not, we hear silence on the issue of abortion. I believe it is a great injustice.

We may deem Mosaic Law a thing of antiquity, but I believe it was issued by the Living God as matters of life. It is alive and it is for living.

In the Bible edition I am reading this evening, the sub-heading over Leviticus 19:9-18 reads "Love Your Neighbor as Yourself". Mind you, the sub-heading is not Scripture, and it is inserted by the choice of the publisher. All ten verses are worth a several-times-over-read, and deep meditation, but I'd like to point to a verse...a thought, if you will.

"You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor." (Leviticus 19:15 ESV)

"You shall do no injustice in court."

I believe a great injustice has been done in court.

I believe the "...poor..." in size and age have lost privilege to the "...great..."

I believe we are systematically doing an injustice. Not just this one, but many more. Any crime is a crime and any wrong is a wrong, but it seems the weaker the victim the more heinous the crime.

Some say, "It's tissue, not a person." Hogwash. Anything pregnant with anything is pregnant with a thing like itself...of itself. Thus, people are pregnant with people. Period. End of story.

I feel the clearest expression of what is happening is the word "murder", but permit me a biblical expression of what is going on: "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD." (Leviticus 19:18 ESV) We take vengeance against the "...sons..." (and daughters) of our own people because we rage against the interruption of our own free will against further exercise of our own free will. And, we masquerade such foolishness --or perhaps we attempt to assuage our stinging conciousnesses-- by calling this great vengeance and injustice "freedom" and "choice" and "individual rights". Well, yes, people are freely making bad choices.

Let us lay down a second great injustice; if I rail against these things, saying they are wrong and I love life, then I really ought to love life. I ought to build orphanages, pay for childcare, educate poor mothers, adopt and advocate for adoption, and on and on and one. I agree. If I value life, I ought to also value the mom's life. I agree. If I value life, I ought to be fighting poverty and racism and overcrowded prisons and undervalued disabled persons and overlooked persons with mental illness and more and more. I agree. I flat-out agree.

This is tough. It's thick. It's complicated. I know.

We don't do enough.

And, that, dear hearts, is an injustice I am squarely a part of.

Maybe we wrestle with the "who is my neighbor" question. Who should we love? Yes. Everyone. Love the one most who has the most need.

I have rambled enough. I'm wrestling. I'm not struggling with the philosophy or theology of the thing alone; I am wrestling with my part in it all. I'm not running from it.

So, here I am...before the Lord...broken...humbled...desperate...hungry for His presence...begging for revival and awakening. Sometimes, I want revival because I want things fixed, but that too is an injustice (of a sort). When I'm thinking clearly, I want revival because I just simply want Him. Tonight, I cannot avoid the fact that I want revival because I want both.