By: Mike Kelly
Retired Pastor
Last week I wrote about the letter of the law that kills versus the spirit of the law that gives life.
And that brings me back to the idea of being a Pharisee today.
I (we?) uphold the outward letter of the Law fairly well. But, like the Pharisees of Jesus’s time, I frequently miss the intent or the spirit of the law.
At one point, Jesus spoke to them in a rather direct manner: Matt 23:27-28 “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 the bones of the dead and everything unclean.
In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
How do I see this working out today? In the church? In general society? I am writing this the day after the Nov 7 elections where the very liberal (in my opinion) abortion law was passed and now will be a part of the state’s constitution. Basically it allows for abortion on demand for just about any reason.
As a Believer and a conservative one at that, I am appalled at this new law. How could 54% of the state’s population think this is a good law? As a Christian I cannot come to a scriptural understanding that makes it somehow right or OK to kill God’s children.
As a realist, I understand that this is symptomatic of where our society is today and where it is going. I know the arguments about the fetus not being a human until it is born or at least viable.
As I read the law, viability is not so much an issue any longer. It’s convenience that is now the standard. If the mother (see my prejudice there, not saying women?) is not pleased with the development, or sex, or not really wanting to be a mother, or the father ran off and now she is alone, she can terminate the pregnancy almost at will.
At this point we are leaving our Christian society behind. If we can’t help the most vulnerable, past societies have proven that we will continue with that attitude when the most vulnerable are old, infirmed people, and then when it is women who are not valued like in some growing religions we see today around the world.
Or people groups like the Jews in Europe in WWII, or the Christians in the Middle East, or the poor in our inner cities or soon, perhaps even white old men like me.
So, how do we apply the Word of God along with the spirit of God on issues like this? We are not called to judge or condemn those who are not Believers.
We are not called to shout at those who choose abortion. We are certainly not called to violence of any kind. We are, however, called to love them.
James is clear that our faith must have action attached to it to be called real faith. James 2:14 AMP version: “What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no [good] works [as evidence]? Can that [kind of] faith save him? [No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient—genuine faith produces good works.] In other words, how do we love them in a practical manner?
We face this matter frequently in the Sanctuary Homeless Shelter where we see women who are pregnant and not happy about it or who are totally unfit for motherhood.
In many cases, they have lost 1-2-3 children to the state already for their inability to parent. What does faith in action look like here on the ground floor? Not theoretical but practical and present?
What would you do in our shoes? How would you live out your faith if it was your daughter … because she is someone’s daughter? What is the intent of the law of Christ to love one another look like here?
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Mike Kelly is the founding pastor of Bryan’s Grace Community Church (retired) and Board Chairman of Bryan’s Sanctuary Homeless Shelter and Williams County’s Compassion (free) Medical Clinic.