It is my duty and priveledge to be raising two boys. This limits what I do to a certain extent, but they are in their mid teens and there is some social pressure on them to interact with girls. As son one says… it takes time away from gaming.

Now, I am putting no pressure on them. If they remain without a girlfriend until they are in their 20s, I’d be happy. In fact I would rrather they were sharing a flat with fellow geeks as Sheldon does with Lionel in Big Bang Theory.

Because dating a Penny is too risky. The field has moved too far, and men are left with no constancy in their relationships.  Even the more pro marriage and conservative branches of the church are facing far too many divorces and solo mothers… and not confronting the women in the church, which means that “good girls” are just as likely to leave you as “bad girls”.

(This is appalling for young women who are chaste. There is far more pressure on them to compromise, and there is a sense of mistrust about any person who claims to have not slept with any other person after a ridiculously young age. We are insulting those women who are godly by not confronting ungodly behaviour and assuming that all women are like that.)

But I’m raising boys. I tell them that if they sleep with someone, they better be prepared to raise that woman’s child. I also tell them that when you sleep with someone your sense of discernment about their godliness and behaviour disappears. There is a reason we should not  play around until we are married.

Until then, Sheldon (or Amy FF) is a far better model than Penny.

It is one of those weeks. Both boys are having final exams and last night I had one of my exam nightmares. The one where I cannot get the one essential document and I arrive with 30 minutes to go in a 180 minute exam. Now yesterday the text took us to hell. Today revelation takes us to heaven:

Revelation 21:9-11a

9Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 11It has the glory of God and a radiance

However, the part of the text which resonated with me was the bit about taxes.

Matthew 17:22-27

²²As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands, ²³and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they were greatly distressed.

²⁴When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?” ²⁵He said, “Yes, he does.” And when he came home, Jesus spoke of it first, asking, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?” ²⁶When Peter said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the children are free. ²⁷However, so that we do not give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me.

Now, there are multiple taxes. As our society becomes poorer and incomes drop, sin or luxury taxes increase, on gambling, cigarettes, alcohol, fuel… even Christmas Trees.  And most of us can do nothing about this.

We have families. We cannot leave the schools they are in, our businesses, our church — unless the persecution gets too great, and we are obliged to flee.

It is clear that Jesus was teaching he did not need to pay the temple tax. However, to avoid offence, he did. The way he did this corrected Peters mistake (but not in front of those who were opposing Peter), demonstrated his control of nature (the coin was in a fish… which is not usual practice, and reinforced to Peter that Jesus was both Lord and Christ.

In this world, we have to balance the need to be support our family, be generous to the church, and not be legalistic. Any wealth we have is not for us to flaunt or throw away, but to provide: we are not promised prosperity — seeking that is not in the gospel. Wealth is not seen as a blessing as such, in fact the wealthy find it hard to find the kingdom.

Excessive taxes can oppress, and indeed the pressure to tithe can be unconscionable if one has family members who cannot provide the essentials. But we have to keep within the law of the land, unless it is clearly wrong. And God does not consider our wealth as some kind of celestial score. He looks instead at the good and evil we have done.