"He said she said"
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Lately I feel like I am in the middle of an argument between two 5 year olds. Watching the petty "he said/ she said" politics of our day. It makes me remember the days when my children were small and it was "He started it" "No she started it."
I got to thinking about this as I studied the book of Romans. . .
One way to describe the early part of Romans is a debate between Paul and an imaginary (though clearly Jewish) "heckler." Can't you just hear i?
o "Paul, the Jews won't let us play with them." "Paul, the gentiles won't leave us alone."
o "Paul the Gentiles keep taking our grace." "Paul the Jews won't share."
o "Paul," "Paul," "Paul."
Paul and my mother have the same parenting style. Paul could have said "OK you Jews go to your corner, and you gentiles go to your corner and I don't want to hear another word out of you." Paul could have said "Wait until the judgment, or wait until God get's home! Then you'll see who's right." Instead he employed the "Donna" technique.
When I was perhaps 7 and my brother about 5 we got in a knock down drag out fight in the middle of mom's living room. We didn't fight that often, but this was apparently a doozy. Mom could have sent us each to our rooms and told us "I don't want to see you until supper." Or, "Wait until your father get's home." But NO! She had to grab us both by the collar, take us downstairs on the cold, hard, concrete floor; stand us nose to nose and say "OK Go at it! If you’re going to fight you're going to do it down here!"
Paul does essentially the same thing. He takes the Jews by the collar, and the gentles by the collar and says- "OK here you go. If you're going to fight about it, you're going to fight on the cold hard floor of the law. Who can earn your salvation by the law? Anyone?" In other words, "who is perfect: perfect in obedience, perfect in motivation, perfect in love?"
Hearing no answer, he goes on to say “That’s right none of us are perfect. Far from it! But thanks be to the saving grace of God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s not a bad summary of the early chapters of Romans is it?
Read the first 11 or so chapters of Romans to see what else Paul has to say to people who, like us, were trying so hard to understand the love and grace of God. Post your thoughts here. Or E-mail me if you prefer.
Terry
