Love Over Legalism
Christopher B. Harbin
Mark 2:23-3:6
I generally don't like bumper-sticker theology. If it can be reduced down to a fit on a bumper sticker, we have lost any nuance, context, or particular meanings. On the other hand, there are some issues in which we really should reduce our nuanced ideas down to some really basic concepts. John Wesley established three simple rules for the classes and societies he was organizing. "Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God." Furthermore, he reduced his religion down to one word-love. It sounds really simplistic. On the other hand, if we view all of our rules, actions, attitudes, doctrines, words, and interactions through the lens of love, might that not be enough to correct our penchant for legalism? What would that look like?
John Wesley talked about experience as one of the ways in which we assess Christian belief and practice. We read Scripture, but one of the ways we assess our interpretation is the way people are affected. How do our interpretations impact people in real time? Jesus faced a lot of concerns in this regard, as standard interpretations often become burdens when they should be blessings. He spoke of upon encountering people who needed healing and it was the Sabbath. It informed his interactions with people who were ill. The way Jesus related to people deemed sinners, unclean, foreigners, or even enemies elevated them and their needs above the rules by which religious society around him operated.
In today's passage, Jesus addresses two instances of this interplay between rules and human need. As he and his disciples passed by a grainfield, they plucked some grain, threshed the seeds by rubbing them in their hands, and ate. Gleaning laws allowed them access to the grain. That was not a problem. At issue for some observers was that the day was the Sabbath and thus work was not allowed. Traditional interpretations defined work as any action necessary to build the Temple. Harvesting and t ...
Christopher B. Harbin
Mark 2:23-3:6
I generally don't like bumper-sticker theology. If it can be reduced down to a fit on a bumper sticker, we have lost any nuance, context, or particular meanings. On the other hand, there are some issues in which we really should reduce our nuanced ideas down to some really basic concepts. John Wesley established three simple rules for the classes and societies he was organizing. "Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God." Furthermore, he reduced his religion down to one word-love. It sounds really simplistic. On the other hand, if we view all of our rules, actions, attitudes, doctrines, words, and interactions through the lens of love, might that not be enough to correct our penchant for legalism? What would that look like?
John Wesley talked about experience as one of the ways in which we assess Christian belief and practice. We read Scripture, but one of the ways we assess our interpretation is the way people are affected. How do our interpretations impact people in real time? Jesus faced a lot of concerns in this regard, as standard interpretations often become burdens when they should be blessings. He spoke of upon encountering people who needed healing and it was the Sabbath. It informed his interactions with people who were ill. The way Jesus related to people deemed sinners, unclean, foreigners, or even enemies elevated them and their needs above the rules by which religious society around him operated.
In today's passage, Jesus addresses two instances of this interplay between rules and human need. As he and his disciples passed by a grainfield, they plucked some grain, threshed the seeds by rubbing them in their hands, and ate. Gleaning laws allowed them access to the grain. That was not a problem. At issue for some observers was that the day was the Sabbath and thus work was not allowed. Traditional interpretations defined work as any action necessary to build the Temple. Harvesting and t ...
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