Authentic Christian Ethics

As we found in the last article, the ethics of the current church is based upon lies, hypocrisy, and interpreting the bible to support a preconceived set of beliefs. This has led to a church where those who are false are lifted up as examples to those who are honest about their faults and mistakes. This must end. It is the opposite of what Jesus envisioned for his people. It is a world in which Judas is the hero and Peter hangs himself.

In order to correct these errors, we must carefully choose the character of our new ethics. We want our ethics to be based on authenticity and grace. To be authentic is to be exactly who you are all the time. The authentic person does not lie about her lifestyle, her actions, or her beliefs. A biblical example of an authentic person is Peter, who, though he was often loud and abrasive, was at least always real. Peter was no player. Authenticity is important to ethics, because our model is not "try to be perfect and crucify those who aren't" but rather "try not to fuck up and offer grace to those who do". If a person makes a mistake, it is authenticity that allows her friends and family who love her to see the mistake, so that they can help her avoid it in the future. All of this is done within the web of relationships that make up the church. There is no need for a Pastor here.

Grace is the wonderful gift upon which all of Christianity should be based. It is the core of Jesus' message. Jesus would not serve well as a deacon at most Evangelical churches. He is continually hanging out with prostitutes, forgiving adulterers, hell, even thieves. Jesus was a disgrace to the concept that God demands perfection and the Church exists to enforce perfection in its members. Grace is about letting someone get away with doing wrong without punishment. It is what Jesus gives us; it is what we must give others.

Certainly there are some times in which the actions of a person are so egregious that we must punish them in some way. This is the job of the courts. Murder, rape, theft, assault, and such are the purview of society to punish. In our normal lives (apparently unless you are me, see previous article) we should never have to deal with a murderer. These are the "Essentials", things which are so harmful to other people that the society takes a stand against them. Most western democracies handle these just fine. The church doesn't need to become involved, except perhaps in reaching out to those in prison with comfort. Atheists know that murder is wrong, so there's no real need to try to make a case for it. Jesus said, love your neighbor as yourself, and these are cases in which the damage to our neighbor is severe.

But most of the ways in which we fail are not prosecutable, and this is the area we call the non-essentials. Here we might think of the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, envy, anger, lust, gluttony, and sloth. These are the areas in which we fail in life, but they are not so hurtful to others that we need to put people in prison. Further, they are quite vague. What is gluttony to one person is not gluttony to another. This is why there can be no hard and fast rule concerning the non-essentials, as there can be with murder. These are the sins that often appear in our lives, and the ones that can do the most damage to our souls.

Our new ethics is relational and situational. A behavior is wrong for us when it damages other people. This is based on Jesus' great commandment to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. Any action we take that hurts other people is a sin. Furthermore, as authentic people we have made choices about our lives. Any action that violates these personal ethics is a sin. For example, perhaps I have an alchoholic father and so have chosen not to drink alchohol. This is my personal choice. If I drink having made that choice, it is a sin for me. It violated a standard I set for myself. This is not to say, however, that other people can set such a personal standard for me. We want to help people be true to who they have chosen to be. These sins do not occur in a vacuum, but in the give and take of who we are becoming. Something may be a sin for us at one time in our lives and not at a later time. Hopefully we will grow, and our choices for ourselves will become better.

We no longer have Jesus walking among us, and we do not want a Priest over us, so how can we find grace and forgiveness when we sin? We all live within the web of relationships that we share. The job of the new church is to ensure that among these relationships we have some that are close enough and safe enough that we can confess our sins in their confines. In other words, you need someone you can talk to when you make a mistake.

The other person needs to determine whether your mistake is a symptom of a deeper problem or just a stupid mistake. They must take into account your past, the context of the sin, and the consequences. If there are any kind of spiritual "elders" in the new church, they would be people whom one can consult to help determine this. This is all done within the context of a relationship based upon love and mutual respect, which is what all church relationships should be. This is not to be another power trip.

Bringing others into the situation might be necessary for a serious problem, what people often call an "intervention". Normally, however, you and your friend can usually work this out. The key is what Jesus said to every sinner he met, "Go, your sins are forgiven, and sin no more." This is grace in action. The sinner has been authentic and honest in confessing a sin to a friend, and the friend has offered grace and forgiveness. Of course, it is God who forgives, but he does it through the instrument of our relationships.

Two things can stop the flow here. First, a person can be inauthentic, often because they have serious emotional problems. If someone lies about their behavior, then no one can help them. There is nothing we can do about this. If a Christian chooses to lie about her life, she will probably fool us all. That is why we do not exalt "perfection", since it takes away one of the benefits of lying about our lives. We cannot change another person, so as long as she continues lying, there is no way we can help her. It's sad, but not everyone opened up and was honest with Jesus when he was here.

Second, a person who hears a confession can use it as a power trip by trying to control someone. Jesus did not try to control people. He let many people walk away from him without hearing the truth. This is another reason authenticity is so important. If I sin and confess it to someone, I know I'll receive forgiveness and grace. As an authentic person, I'll let others know about my sin (not in a broadcast or anything, but naturally, as it comes up). Since there is no "secret" there is nothing the person who first heard my confession can use to control me. Still, how that person handles my sin might determine whether I go to her in the future.

The job of the new church, therefore, is to foster an environment in which these relationships can flourish. We can teach each other how to be authentic, non-judgmental, and loving. We can learn the areas in which we might make a mistake, and how to judge whether a given sin is a sign of something more serious, or just a stupid choice. The church as a group of believers can also keep an eye on the process to ensure that no one is manipulated or controlled. Likewise, the church can encourage authenticity as a lifestyle.

As to what constitutes a sin, that is for the community to decide. Everyone just makes the bible say what they want it to say anyway. Apart from the Essentials that we've already mentioned, ethics will vary from group to group. Yes, there is the danger that a group of Christians might decide to allow behaviors that we ourselves would not condone. But that happens now anyway. There are Evangelical churches steeped in envy, pride, and hatred. We cannot control what other people do, we can only offer to guide. As far as Jesus was concerned there were only two rules: love God and love your neighbor as yourself. God can handle his people screwing up. The greater danger is that the new church will become just a different set of rules. I won't let that happen.

It may become apparent that such a web of relationships does not need a building, and budgets, and a pastor. And you'd be right. The dismantling of the current church's grip on power and control over its people is the next topic for discussion.

Comments

[cspew]

I think there ARE athiests who would argue the murder point. Murder is wrong because society deems it wrong, they would argue. Not because it is inherently wrong or comes from a higher authority. Aren't animals basically "wired" to kill each other with no consequences? What is the relationship between the "essentials" and the church? Is there one?

On the confessionals, I agree that it helps our relationships and ourselves to confess errors/sins to others; however, It almost sounds like you're saying it's required for forgiveness. As a point of clarification, I would say that God forgives us and loves us even if we don't confess it to our friends. If we have wronged our friends, then we need to ask for their forgiveness.

Keep going, man! I'm enjoying these.

[Rex]

I think there are those that would argue the murder point as well, but that does not make it right. These posts seem to weigh heavy on the side of relativism and to be honest I like that. Rereading some of these has strenghtened my find that the core truths ('essentials') of the faith are the foundation. So the essentials and the church have a very solid relationship in my eyes. What the relativism gets me is changes in practice of these truths. Now where the church goes wrong, has gone wrong and will go wrong in the future is figuring out what the 'essentials' are. They make 'essentails' non-essential and vise versa. This is what leads to and continues to lead to pretty much EVERY PROBLEM the church has ever faced. So the question would be 'what are the essentials?' I don't have the answers, but I am willing to work towards them. And I believe they all start with loving God and Loving others. I'd start with Matthew 7:1 'Judge not, that you be not judged'.

[babloo]

dear sir/mam
i accept your felling.hope your thinking grow peace in world.

thx