Reflection: Beyond 'right and wrong'

I wrote this recently:

"Teach our children how to distinguish between right and wrong, and discern what is good and what is evil. But better still, teach them to overcome evil with good. (See Rom 12:21.) The Christian faith is much more than 'getting it right'. It is first and foremost about a Saviour who gave up his own life for sinners, and hence, in a real sense, overcoming evil with good."

I have been thinking that I spend a lot of time teaching students what is right and wrong. We see evil in this world and we want to ensure that we live our lives right. But surely the message of the gospel goes beyond 'right and wrong'. The gospel is about Christ - a sinless man and innocent sufferer - who died on the cross for sinners like us. He gave up his rights to defend and protest, but willingly gave up his life to die on the cross. What a Saviour!

I believe in seeking justice, and there are times when we have to stand up for our rights in our democratic society. We should not shy away from doing that. But the imperative in the Bible is surely to overcome evil with good, and to love our neighbours (including our enemies) as God loves us. Romans 12 says it all. A big challenge. We can't do it by our own human strength. Only through the Spirit can we do it.

Reflection: The kids in my son's school

My son goes to a small Christian school. It's a great community and I have met some wonderful Christian families there. I am very grateful to God for that.

Here is an encouraging story about some students at the school. A group of them were on a school trip to Canberra. On their way back they had lunch in a country town. As they had lunch someone was watching how they behaved and afterwards he commented on their good behaviour and maturity. He is right, I think. The school is a good school. Most of the parents are Christians. They provide a stable and secure home environment, and know how to teach their children to behave.

But my thoughts go to the kids in other schools, schools in the low socioeconomic suburbs of Melbourne. I hear stories of a Christian school teacher who worked for many years in one of those schools. She found herself spending most of her time dealing with the issues that children from dyfuncational families faced. The fact is that it is not the fault of these children that their behaviour is not-so-good. They just happened to have born into families that were less fortunate. For some of them, their parents were migrants from poor countries. They came to Melbourne to flee from poverty and oppression, and found themselves struggling with the language and the culture. They just happened to be born in a country where life was not at all as easy as Australia.

My heart goes out to those children, whose prospects of life will not be the same as children in my son's school. My heart goes to them because they are in fact in our own "backyard", and I suspect that Jesus would have gone to them if he were here today.

"I am a follower of Christ"

Tonight at bedtime my son asked me what is the difference between Presbyterian, Baptist, Anglican and Orthodox churches. So, starting from Jesus, I went through the 2,000 years of church history with him (all in 15 minutes) to explain how the different denominations came about. In my answer I also mentioned the Wesleyans, the Methodists, the Catholics, the Reformation (as an introduction to the Protestants), the Anabaptists, the Mennonites, the Uniting Church (in Australia), the Pentecostals, and even the different types of Orthodox churches - and my son added the Salvos! - and then I said that where I preached this morning was probably an independent evangelical church. I explained to him that there are different types of Anglican churches (high, low, evangelical, liberal, charismatic, etc), and indeed different types of churches within a given denomination.

Then I briefly explained to him the subtle differences between their doctrines, and how often each group thinks that their doctrine is better. Indeed many would argue that their doctrine is closest to what the Bible teaches.

My son actually finds it a bit amusing. I briefly mentioned to him that such divisions in the body of Christ is in fact not what the biblical ideal is.

In the end, I told my son that I see myself as a follower of Christ, rather than a Baptist or a Pentecostal (or whatever denomination). I love the Bible, and I belong to the body of Christ. I won't say that all doctrines (from the different denominations) are equally valid. But I am not sure whether we can say that any one doctrine can reflect the teaching in the Bible perfectly.

Reading Leviticus with your child

Do you think it is a good idea to read Leviticus with your child?

I guess every child is different and hence I won't say yes or no to this question. But I have been reading some selected passages in Leviticus with my son recently, and it has been a good experience. I showed him how some offerings had to be made, and the significance of that to Israel and how that would help us to understand the New Testament. We read about the Sabbath year and the Jubilee, and learned how that worked in Israel's social life and how that protected the poor. I plan to read the day of atonement with him soon.

To me, as a parent I find that even Leviticus can be interesting - even fun - if we know how Leviticus works and how to make it interesting. But I am also aware that every child is different and so probably it won't work for every child. Having said all that, I think reading the Bible creatively with our children will build a solid foundation in our children's lives.