This post concludes my Christian Values series. I am certain I have not exhausted the subject, but I am frazzled. What began as musings about public dissonance of “Christian Values”, produced an unanticipated examination of my own values. That exercise produced some troubling conclusions which continue to plague me and will, hopefully, prove to be transformative.
I am thankful for my coincidental (?) encounter with Greg Boyd’s book “Repenting of Religion – Turning from Judgement to the Love of God”. He introduced perspectives that were challenging and convicting.
A brief summary of my understandings and thoughts.
Definition –
“Christian” values are what you believe. They determine the way you live and work. They determine your priorities, they’re the measures you use to tell if your life is Christian. When the things you do and the way you behave don’t align with your values, you are not being Christian.
[adapted from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_85. ]
To no one’s surprise , arguments Christians’ make for the validity and credibility of their positions are based on”Christian Values”. “Christian Values” are the water we swim in, unfortunately, the water is murky. There is little consensus among Christians on a definition of “Christian Values”. I often find myself at odds with other Christians about values.
Absent clarity regarding “Christian Values”, opponents use that ambiguity to prove their case , for example, intolerance and bigotry are alleged to be “Christian Values”.
Source
Values are derived, When values conflict, they inherently indicate different origins. When “Christian Values” conflict their source is open to question and they become illegitimate and counter-productive.
As indicated in an earlier post, I believe “Christian Values”, as generally espoused today, are increasingly derived from within. Accepting Satan’s lies and consuming the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, we believe we are god and able to determine what’s best without God. Self-delusion keeps us from recognizing any incompatibility of self-derived values with God-derived values. By definition, there is only one source of values for Christians..Christ.
The solution is obvious… just follow Christ. Fortunately, Christ was unambiguous about following him:
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40 NIV
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
Matthew 16:24 NIV
The apostle Paul was equally unambiguous about values of Christ followers:
“I may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell. I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to move mountains—but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned —but if I have no love, this does me no good.”
“Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians13:1-3, 13b GNT
“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
Galatians 5:6b NIV
Love is the sovereign Christian value. It’s source is God…God is love. It’s meaning and manifestation for humanity are demonstrated in Jesus, God come in flesh. Love is fruit of the Spirit.
Whatever is declared as “Christian Values”, to be authentic, must be derived from love as revealed and demonstrated by God. There is no other source for “Christian Values”.
Love as Christians understand it is distinctly different from what most people think of as love.
Can We Be Good Without God? On the political meaning of Christianity
When John wrote that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,” he illuminated the sacrificial character of divine love. This is the mark of agape. It is entirely selfless. If one could love others without judging them, asking anything of them, or thinking of one’s own needs, one would meet the Christian standard. Obviously, no one can. Many of us can meet the requirements of friendship or erotic love, but agape is beyond us all. It is not a love toward which we are naturally inclined or for which we have natural capacities. Yet it is not something exclusively divine, like omnipotence, which human beings would be presumptuous to emulate. In fact, it is demanded of us. Agape is the core of Christian morality.
GLENN TINDER
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1989/12/can-we-be-good-without-god/306721/
Nourished from consuming fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and perceiving myself to be God, I have confidently chosen good values. Values which confirm my goodness and validate my judgement of others. Going my own way, separated from God I am unable to eat the fruit of the the Tree of Life.
Any goodness is empty and meaningless and subject to evil without agape. As Tinder noted above, agape is beyond us all.
This excursion into “Christian Values” has exposed me to how deeply I grieve the Holy Spirit, choosing goodness on my own instead of receiving her gift of love.
Being praised as a good person is no longer a source of pride, but an occasion for self-examination.
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
Mark 10:18