First thing this morning the website is still down in NZ. So I am back writing the blog in Abiword — I’m aware that WordPress will import word files, and Abiword is fairly lightweight, fast, does block quotes, and exports in the relevant format. I posted last night from a machine that has the new ip address in it’s hosts file, but this one is waiting.

Yesterday’s post was about problems of Phariasism. This is the response from the elders of Jerusalem, what is often called the first Church Conference.

Acts 15:12-21
12The whole assembly kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13After they finished speaking, James replied, “My brothers, listen to me. 14Simeon has related how God first looked favorably on the Gentiles, to take from among them a people for his name.

15This agrees with the words of the prophets, as it is written,
16  ‘After this I will return,  and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen;  from its ruins I will rebuild it,  and I will set it up,  17  so that all other peoples may seek the Lord —  even all the Gentiles over whom my name has been called. Thus says the Lord, who has been making these things 8known from long ago.’

19Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, 20but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood. 21For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every sabbath in the synagogues.”

Now there are four things that the elders of Jerusalem suggested we should not do. Every one of these will be seen as intolerant by the progressives, and judgmental. No matter. James is pulling back before Moses to the rules of the Patriarchs and the teaching from before Moses to which the Law is consistent and (as it is part of scripture) inspired by the spirit, teaches this, and it is our business to obey it.

1. Not eat food used in idol worship. Paul made a comment that if you just buy from the butcher’s and don’t know, it is not wrong. But eating that offered to idols was seen as participation in idol worship, and we are to worship God alone. We are not to worship other Gods, or accept a syncretic worship.
2. Abstain from fornication (sex outside marriage).  Instead we are to be chaste: chastity and modesty requires we do not have sex outside marriage, and have sex within it. We are not gnostics. This live involves a lot of pracitcal ministry to a spouse, from getting an income to meeting each others needs to raising children. The Puritans preached early marriage and more frequent sex than the Romans of that period (who strongly suggested their congregations fast from this at times of the church year, something that is licit with mutual agreement).  As someone who is single, this is difficult. I have to pray, daily, for the grace to remain continent or comfortable with my position in life.: there is a fairly high chance that I will not remarry ( legitimate by reformed faith — the Catholics teach that the divorced should not marry but instead reconcile).  We have to remind each other that while we need to drink every day and breathe continually, we can not eat for days or weeks, and we don’t need to have sex. There are many called to be single, some to be monks or nuns, and some to serve God fully. Because when you have a family, they take priority.
3. To avoid blood, and animals strangled (not bled). The covenant with Moses bought in this, that the blood of any animal needs to be returned to the eath, for the life is in the blood. SInce I do not like blood soup and blood (black) pudding, this is not a trouble for me, but this is the one rule of the Jerusalem council that is most often ignored.  However, I find, as our culture becomes more and more pagan, the myth of the Vampire, who feeds on blood alone, has become more and more frequent.

There is nothing there about the fundamentalist pieties. Nothing about smoking, or weed (avoid both, unless you like obstructive airways disease or lung cancer: I have seen terminal cases of both and they are not pretty). Nor is alcohol banned.

Nor are we commanded to only eat food from organic or green or fair trade sources.

James kept the rules very simple, but gave guidance, so that we may grow in Godliness. And we have difficulty keeping these. If one moves to the commandments given to Moses, Jesus teaches that if we have thought of doing it, we have done it — which means I’m guilty, for I have despised, hated, lusted and coveted.

And the role of the church is to remind us of these things. Not to be some kind of ministry for all.

And, being humans, we have a desire to be known, and to be “good”. I grew up in the church too! I know the pleasure of being the “good girl” (who wasn’t so good). I know the delicate pressure to attend all the “important” conferences and studies and knitting circles. Learning to push back is hard!!! Harder in some churches than in others. (I’m an intern – I am FOREVER getting the “well did you go to this?” “no”. “What about…” “No.” – and the confused faces. Like because I’m interning I want to move into the church. No.)

None of what goes down (at least in theory) in the circles of service is a problem – the point is to reach as many for the gospel as we can. (And, in my church, we have a lot of baby Christians to integrate). But when we start worship the works and stop worshiping Jesus… we have a problem. It happens. And it’s very very hard to call it out when it does happen.

So let us go and be judgmental. The world is tolerant of sin, and are the living dead. We are alive, so we need not imitate those spiritual zombies.

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