Welcome back to Inklingz. No promises but will try to get back to posting with some reasonable regularity in the coming months. I was asked to write a guest blog for a friend, but this one didn’t make the cut:) so I figured I’d share it here. Her blog follows M’Cheyne’s annual Bible reading plan, so it’s based on tomorrow’s reading: Psalm 31 and 1 Timothy 2. This is roughly her format as well, though to be honest, not enough so to publish! Haha. Anyway, welcome back!
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It is not for kings, Lemuel—
it is not for kings to drink wine,
not for rulers to crave beer,
lest they drink and forget what has been decreed,
and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
Let beer be for those who are perishing,
wine for those who are in anguish!
Let them drink and forget their poverty
and remember their misery no more.
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy. -Proverbs 31:4-9
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. -1 Timothy 2:1-6
Nuance: Peter reminds us that even angels long to look into these things (1 Peter 1:12)—that is, the Truth of Jesus Christ as preached through the Holy Spirit, the Word of God. And here we see some intriguing aspects of that Truth: that we should pray for and obey those who have authority over us, irrespective of their leadership; that leaders should not crave alcohol, yet for those in anguish drunkenness may serve as a respite. Pray for and obey even oppressive leaders? Buy beers for the homeless? What nuance is shown in the Word of God that even angels do not tire of contemplating the beauties and complexities of it!
Extremes: There are two equal and opposite mistakes we can make in approaching God’s Truth. The first mistake is oversimplifying it. The God of Creation understands all the complexities herein! For believers, the risk is a faith that is hard to apply to life’s circumstance. The framework of such faith is not robust enough to support the weight of life’s complexities. For thoughtful skeptics, this thin framework is easy to dismiss as naive and inapplicable. Perhaps the more common mistake for modern Western individuals is over-complicating the Truth. Skeptics often does so intentionally. If we remove all hard Truth from it Christianity’s claims, the Word is toothless, for it is then no different from all other truth claims. Believers tend to use this as an excuse to live loose lives.
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