There are some Christians, and they are usually very sincere, who would view
themselves rather differently as Guardians of Truth. They believe in a
prescribed orthodoxy which has various ‘tests’ and ‘benchmarks’ used to
determine if you are in or out.
I sometimes think of faith in terms of a wonderful box of treasure. Guardians of Truth want to keep it
secure and under lock and key. Yet, to me at least, that feels as if we are
putting God in a box. Of course, we
cannot do that because God is bigger than us!
Instead, I find it more helpful to think that Seekers after Truth delight
in opening the box and exploring all that is good, helpful and inspiring
within. A treasure box that, however
many times opened, always has something new.
Perhaps my picture is too simplistic, yet it does reflect some basic differences
in the way we Christians face contemporary ethics. Whist some enthusiastically quote proof
texts (they never actually show absolute proof, by the way) I prefer to search
for core principles from the Bible and then apply them to modern day contexts
in a less literal approach. For example,
the Bible actually encourages slaves to obey their masters and for women to
keep silent in church. Yet no Christian
today would approve of slavery and most value that God speaks just as much
through women as men. These passages of
scripture cannot just be read literally, they need to be understood contextually.
All of that demands a fair bit of work. It’s the sort of work we all need to do in
seeking to address many ethical issues today, such as sexuality and marriage.
There is a wonderful line from an Iona hymn that asks for God’s help as we use
the faith we’ve found, to reshape the world around.
