Dear Parents and Friends of CCS,
I hope this post finds you well and walking in the forgiveness, grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ!
This week I want to continue to flesh out the concept of the “Shalom Community” that we talk so much about here at CCS, a Community of Peace, Safety, Wholeness, Hope and Joy.
This concept is evident throughout the Bible, and is rooted in many particular Scriptures.
The book of Romans adds another piece to the puzzle of how the gospel of the Kingdom informs on the way a healthy community works. In Chapter 12, Paul shares the “marks of a true Christian”:
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9-21 ESV)
This passage provides yet another beautiful description of how people acting as members of a Shalom Community should live. As with the Colossians excerpt we examined 2 weeks ago, this passage stands on its own without comment.
Yet the challenge here is not that we don’t understand what it means - it's that we find it difficult, if not impossible, to live this way on a daily basis.
I’ll be briefly unpacking verse 9 today and the remainder of this passage over the next few weeks, but let’s begin with a basic Bible Study principle:
Before you attempt to interpret a passage, first read the surrounding Scriptures to get a sense of the context.
In reality it’s virtually impossible to rightly understand our Romans 12 passage without exploring Paul’s reasoning in chapters 6-8, and how that reflects the “ground bass” i.e. the resonating foundation of the ideas he expresses in our passage.
I encourage you to go back and read chapters 6-8 on your own, but perhaps we can get at the essence of it by reflecting together on Romans 8:1-2.
8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[a] 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you[b] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Here Paul essentially summarizes the gospel, the good news that we cannot help ourselves, and that only Christ can truly set us free. And this transformation, one that is carried out by God in us through His Spirit, is what empowers us to live the sort of life we just read about in Romans 12.
With that context in mind, let’s take a look at verse 9.
Here we are instructed to love others, to hate what is wrong and to cling to, or hold fast to what is good - to which many of us would let out a hearty Amen! Of course we should do this, and I do! (dramatic pause…) It’s my neighbor that struggles with this.
Wait, not so fast! The clear implication here contextually is that God is the one who decides what is right and wrong, not us. Not our culture. Not our friend group. Not our families, even.
God’s word, rightly interpreted with wisdom, intellectual rigor guided by the Spirit and careful study in community, is the ultimate source of ethics and morality, including how we treat one another.
And further, counter to the prevailing cultural perspective that can be present even in some churches, I am not always the best judge of my own motivations and actions.
My perspective is often clouded by my own assumptions and biases and my own desire to let myself off the proverbial hook.
Not surprisingly, it turns out I'm much better off over time by aligning my perspective directly with the true North of God’s word, and trusting Him to guide me and complete that work in me through the work of the Holy Spirit.
As a specific example of this, based on this passage we can say that you and I as members of a Shalom Community should:
“Commit to refraining from saying or writing anything publicly or privately about someone in their absence that you wouldn’t say if they were present.”
And,
“Treat others as you would like to be treated.”
This is hard. Really hard.
And it's only possible if we trust God’s word and Spirit to move us toward this reality.
In closing, remember that all of this makes much more sense if we realize that Jesus is worth it, that He is better, and that experiencing and knowing Him firsthand is the ultimate pleasure.
All of this is undergirded by the Gospel, the good news of Jesus, which is operating powerfully in the background, providing a healthy context for God’s work in and through us.
As the late Timothy Keller said,
“You are worse than you think you are, but also far more loved than you feel you are.”
Community Christian School has clearly been called by God to be the sort of community where we “stir one another up to love and good works”. (Heb. 10:24 ESV) This means the growth of a Shalom Community is of first priority.
And by the grace of God and in the power of the Spirit, we will continue to pursue this.
Next week we will continue to examine what Shalom Community looks like in real life.
‘Til then, may God bless you with His awesome truth and love.
For CCS and the Kingdom,
Tom