Mercy Triumphs
This is the title of Beth Moore's study on James, and I am finding it quite good. The question of "faith vs. works" is a hard one for some people. It's not one I struggle with--living what you believe makes perfect sense to me--so I am trying to figure out why others do. I think it has to do with the question, OK, how much is enough, and the fact that "enough" may lead to human sanctions, i.e., legalistic obligations and expectations. Logical obedience and rational consistency between the truths of the gospel and how we live can escalate into pushes from others about what that logical obedience and rational consistency should look like. Since Christians (and Christian women) can be gullible and not able to stand up to the opinions of others, we get trapped. Been there, done that. I've thrown away the t-shirt. I try hard not to put my expectations on others (despite some of these posts) and I try even harder not to let theirs affect me. Easier said than done. We have to balance living in community with following the Spirit for ourselves.
Example: the other day at BCM, students who have nothing to do with BCM started coming in to get pizza because they heard there was free food. I fussed. I wasn't very nice, but we are not there to feed the whole campus; if someone wants to come to our meeting and be there, that's fine, regardless of their beliefs, but they can't just come in, grab three pieces of pizza, cut out, eat half of it and throw half out, and not stick around. Of course, Jesus fed people who probably didn't stick around .... (we know he did). But Jesus had unlimited resources. I can't buy 20 pizzas every week out of our budget, and no other RSO would do that. I don't know why the "Christian club" should be held to a different standard, even if our founder multiplied loaves and fishes and feed 5,000 plus!
But. . . I have felt bad about it since. I am such a fusser, such a curmudgeon. Or am I just being realistic? Did I run off people who are interested in BCM, or just the freeloaders (of which there are many on campus; it's a long-standing problem that students freeload food). We just don't have the money. One student wanted to serve juice and fruit at Coffeehouse; it's not a breakfast bar.
Example: the other day at BCM, students who have nothing to do with BCM started coming in to get pizza because they heard there was free food. I fussed. I wasn't very nice, but we are not there to feed the whole campus; if someone wants to come to our meeting and be there, that's fine, regardless of their beliefs, but they can't just come in, grab three pieces of pizza, cut out, eat half of it and throw half out, and not stick around. Of course, Jesus fed people who probably didn't stick around .... (we know he did). But Jesus had unlimited resources. I can't buy 20 pizzas every week out of our budget, and no other RSO would do that. I don't know why the "Christian club" should be held to a different standard, even if our founder multiplied loaves and fishes and feed 5,000 plus!
But. . . I have felt bad about it since. I am such a fusser, such a curmudgeon. Or am I just being realistic? Did I run off people who are interested in BCM, or just the freeloaders (of which there are many on campus; it's a long-standing problem that students freeload food). We just don't have the money. One student wanted to serve juice and fruit at Coffeehouse; it's not a breakfast bar.
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