1 John takes on a new and unique character when viewed in the light of the present age. Coming out of the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr, reading passages like the first half of 1 John 2 exposes to light some of the darkest corners of the human heart. "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother lives in the light..." How can we read this in the light of MLK and not be astonished by how many Christians used the Word of God to justify hatred of their fellow humans? How many Christians marched against integration of schools, and how many Christians opposed civil rights? And what may be worse is that many of those Christians saw nothing wrong with the racism in their hearts.
A scary thought is that those Christians are no different than me. There are no monsters in this world unless we are all monsters. We share the same DNA as Stalin and Mother Theresa. But this thought comforts me and I hope it comforts you: "Its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining" (1 John 2:8). How are you seeing the true light shine around you?
How much light are you seeing at 4:45am? As we talked today, I'm seeing the light of Christ in my triad group. Why haven't I done this before?
ReplyDeleteThe time stamp on blogspot.com is a little screwy... only off by about 3 hours. And I don't know why the triad concept hasn't swept the world by now. It's a wonderful one.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Andy,
ReplyDelete"All" I hear people say "All are saved". Shouldn't "all" be qualified? "All---who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." D.Z.