Practical day-to-day Christian ethics, in public

[Storico]

I was thinking about something. If your life's even a bit like mine, maybe you'll be able to identify.

Every day I see a couple hundred people. Sometimes they're the same people I've seen on other days, but not always or even usually. I'm in public often, surrounded by people I don't know well or don't know at all. I don't know their circumstances, what they need, or want, or what they're having problems with. This disengagement isn't anyone's fault, either. The people that I can talk to are the ones that are nearest to me in space, usually: they're asking questions at work or they see me in a library or cafeteria or class. All the same, I can't help but wonder... how, as Christians, are we representing Christ to people who we don't know? ARE we representing Christ? What does it mean to represent Christ in public? How often do we think about it? How does it actually play out? Is it natural to us, or does getting a message across to others come uneasily to us, for whatever reason?

I'd like to throw out those questions at you. What do you think?

My own thoughts:

- There's a difference between representing Christ in public and trying to act religious and holy. People know the difference. What is it? Maybe just this, for example... They'll know you're trying to be kind if you smile, hold a door open and tell them to have a great day. They'll know you're trying to act religious and holy if you make a lot of noise while dragging a bible out of your bag and holding it up in front of your nose as you read so everyone can see what book it is.

- There's a difference between representing Christ and using basic manners, and although both are wonderful, I think when we represent Christ, we're essentially showing other people that we're able to handle any situation with Christ's grace. Even good manners have their limits. Grace seems to go further in that it gives us patience and a reserve we can fall back on.

- There's a difference between sainthood and human nature. We fall into the human nature part. We aren't perfect, and even when we honestly try to represent Christ in our day-to-day lives, we're going to mess up from time to time. Rather than looking at it as a failure, though, it's an opportunity. We don't ruin our Christian "witness" when we mess up, I don't think. Messing up gives us the chance to show people we're human and that we need forgiveness too, just like anyone else does.

- There's a difference between wanting to represent Christ and actually doing it in a really practical way. Every day, we can do it. It can be in public, it can be in our homes, in our jobs, our schools, our public and spiritual groups, it doesn't matter.

Here's what Christ did:

He gave us the challenge of looking after one another. It wasn't optional. It was, to paraphrase, telling us that if we follow Him, we need to obey His commandments and we'll be His friends. We've been asked to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and look after "His sheep". The message was one of obedience, friendship, compassion, charity and humility. We ALL need looking after sometimes. On an everyday level, we need to look after each other and we need to show Christ to each other and to those who have no idea yet who He is. They'll have an idea, it's hoped, if they see us. And they'll want to know more. All without preaching the direct gospel.

We can:

- Say please, thank you, you're welcome, and all of the other polite things to say. ANYONE, Christian or non, ought to do it. But if we're shy or not the type of person to think of making basic, friendly conversation then maybe it's a challenge to us to make a bit of contact. A grocery store line's a good place to start.
- Say "I love you" and "I am sorry". They're two of the most powerful sentences in the English language. Using both more often would really, really help.
- Roll up our sleeves and get to work. Hungry people? Call the soup kitchen and get in. Litter everywhere? Grab a garbage bag and a good pair of gloves. Young mother living down the street? Drop off a plate of cookies and a baby item or two. New person at work? Welcome them and ask them out for a coffee. Shut-in or disabled neighbor? Shovel a driveway for them or pop over to talk.

I think this is where Christ comes into it. When people are hurting and lonely and jaded because they've started to think others don't care, we've got to prove them wrong. It's not about doing good works to look good. That misses the point. The point is that if Christ were alive today, you would not see him looking all official and telling people off and looking down his nose at them or making snide remarks. I think we'd find him talking to people in bars, giving out soup and bread in the soup kitchens, spending an afternoon with a single mother or an elderly man. We wouldn't find him where some people would think to look for him.

Maybe it's the same with us? People don't always find Christ in a church. I didn't. I found Him in other people who knew and loved Him.

Any thoughts?

[mossrose]

It all comes down to putting others before yourself. If we all did that, all the time, then we would represent Christ to the people we come into contact with.

It is a humbling of ourselves. It is a desire to obtain the best good for every other person.

It is not in our nature to do that. Nor does our culture foster that attitude. Our culture is a "me first above anyone else" culture. And that makes it even more difficult to portray the unselfishness of Christ to those people we come into contact with every day.

It is a daily act of the will. It is a moment by moment act of the will.

[Storico]

very, very good observations. We DON'T live in a culture that welcomes or even encourages us to represent Christ. That's why, when we do, we aren't doing it to fit in with anyone. The verse about living in the world but not trying to fit into this world has never been more clear.

[Amazing Rando]

As I see it, the biggest difference between living the kingdom of God and practicing, as you put it, basic politeness, is the quality. When we live ethics of God's kingdom and live out our identity as God's redeemed people, our lives will imitate the quality of self-sacrifice that Jesus' life did. That's what we see in Philippians 2:5-11 for example. Are we willing to deny ourselves in sacrificial love in service to others? Or are we just putting on a purfunctory smile and saying "please" and "thank you" out of habit? Are we willing to bleed our own blood if necessary for the sake of others? If so, we're following in Jesus' footsteps.

I think your heart is absolutely in the right place. Living as kingdom people is about laying down our lives for the sake of others, dying for them (either metaphorically or literally), and living out radical, audacious, amazing love of everyone, just as God loves the sinners and the righteous alike and sends the blessings of rain and sun on both!

[Amazing Rando]

The verse about living in the world but not trying to fit into this world has never been more clear.

If you're intrerested in the "in the world but not of it" aspect of Christian political existence, check this out- it's from the 2nd century Epistle to Diognetus, and really captures the biblical understanding of what makes (or at least ought to make) Christians different:

Epistle to Diognetus, 5-6

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.

To sum up all in one word--what the soul is in the body, that are Christians in the world.

© source where applicable

Thoughts?

[Storico]

Thoughts?

Wow. That's beautiful. And true. Hard to live up to, and big shoes to fill, but worth it.

I especially like this, emphasis mine:

... They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified.

I wish we moderns had that firm a grip on what being a citizen of heaven MEANT. How much more earthly good could we do if we weren't so attached to the physical land we were born on, and the events that surround it? I wonder. I think the writer of this epistle was right on. True LOVE, wanting to make our neighbors rich with that love, is what Christianity SHOULD be about.

[Zandrax]

One of the things that I say to people is Jesus really didn't go around pointing his finger saying "Yer goin' to HELL sinner! You have to turn or burn!" Jesus talked more about money and behavior than he did hellfire and brimstone.

In short, lead by example. Witness to those who need it, but don't throw it in their face. Look at how Jesus acted, and not even necessarily what your church tells you. One of my favorite quotes is by the musician Steve Taylor in his sone I Want To Be A Clone: "If you want to be one of His, you better act like one of us!"

[Nordic Kid]

As a Christian, I think it's somewhat of a necessity to be extroverted- inasmuch as we must have an answer for nonbelievers, and we must not be afraid to give it (which was VERY difficult for me when I was younger...before I started reading tektonics)

I have nothing else to add, you said it all! One just has to remember to be "cool" about it, if my slang makes sense.

[Storico]

As a Christian, I think it's somewhat of a necessity to be extroverted- inasmuch as we must have an answer for nonbelievers, and we must not be afraid to give it (which was VERY difficult for me when I was younger...before I started reading tektonics)

I have nothing else to add, you said it all! One just has to remember to be "cool" about it, if my slang makes sense.

Nordic, thanks for bringing this thread back up!

One thing that I've been learning lately is that I'm just a conversationalist. I don't thrive on conflict. I don't like to debate people and try to prove them wrong while trying to prove myself right. I've learned that on T-Web, but it extrapolates to my own life just as equally. How I am here, I'm there. At least, as far as I can tell. I'd sooner make friends first, and ask questions later. That being said, when someone asks me a question, I WILL answer. It's not something I'm afraid of. But something that practical day-to-day Christian ethics MEANS is that we need to be, as you said, 'cool' about it. That usually means just living and just being kind and just being ourselves, and just being the kind of person people would like to get to know. The idea isn't "be caring and warm and open to reel people in". Some evangelists use that tool, and it doesn't turn my crank. I'd sooner just be myself. I have days where I'm moody and miserable. I have days where I'm happy and considerate. We ALL do. I'd sooner just let EVERYONE, offline and online, see all of those days. It's me. Trying my best.

That was a total ramble.

Thanks for what you said! I agree with ya. Extroversion doesn't come naturally to all people, but the more we talk with people, the more we find friends in places we never expected to find one.

[ApologiaPhoenix]

I try to base my ethics on the Trinity. The Trinity is the source of all love and is perfect love within itself.

How does each person in the Trinity love each other? Completely and selflessly based on who that person is and not what they do. In turn, I should see my neighbor based on who he is and not what he does. I need to have that love based on his bearing the image of God. Even in bringing about justice, I should realize that this is an image-bearer. I should still treat their sin seriously, as God treats mine seriously, but not as seriously as I treat grace. I should be ready to forgive wrongs done against me instead of being eager to punish.

We've fallen from that perfect love, and we should be doing all we can to grow more into the love of Christ each day.

[Nordic Kid]

Nordic, thanks for bringing this thread back up!

One thing that I've been learning lately is that I'm just a conversationalist. I don't thrive on conflict. I don't like to debate people and try to prove them wrong while trying to prove myself right. I've learned that on T-Web, but it extrapolates to my own life just as equally. How I am here, I'm there. At least, as far as I can tell. I'd sooner make friends first, and ask questions later. That being said, when someone asks me a question, I WILL answer. It's not something I'm afraid of. But something that practical day-to-day Christian ethics MEANS is that we need to be, as you said, 'cool' about it. That usually means just living and just being kind and just being ourselves, and just being the kind of person people would like to get to know. The idea isn't "be caring and warm and open to reel people in". Some evangelists use that tool, and it doesn't turn my crank. I'd sooner just be myself. I have days where I'm moody and miserable. I have days where I'm happy and considerate. We ALL do. I'd sooner just let EVERYONE, offline and online, see all of those days. It's me. Trying my best.

That was a total ramble.

Thanks for what you said! I agree with ya. Extroversion doesn't come naturally to all people, but the more we talk with people, the more we find friends in places we never expected to find one.

to you. Unfortunately- and I should really change this- I thrive on conflict. I'm type A all the way, and after I see people make pitiful excuses for not being Christian- eg, doesn't suit my personal wants and needs, a parroted argument from Dawkins, some babble about God's existance not being relevant, etc...I get get pretty angry at the people. Cause a lot of them DON'T want a conversation...they just want to be told they're right, or not be bothered with. That sort of attitude really depressed me- although you Americans seem to listen a lot better than us stubborn jerks on the other side of the Atlantic

I just need to figure out how to get people to listen. And how make friends

[windy36]

I feel like I live in an indifferent universe where all people care about is themselves. I just don't feel like trying anymore. I feel I try, but ethically other people are not even trying. I just wish other people would try. I am lonely because of the indifferent universe, but not sure what to do about the problem because trying is getting me nowhere. Also when I am out in public even though I am around people I still feel lonely. And the people I do talk too seem fake to me, and I have to wear a mask around them, so I still feel lonely even though they are around. So having people around doesn't seem to cure the problem for me.

[moms4thangel]

I have found him in church, just not every church. The search is worth it though.

[moms4thangel]

I believe that, if we love one another as we love ourselves, then treating others the way we would want to be treated . . leaving a lasting impression on someone else's life . . someday they may come to an (eternal) life-changing decision that will alter their lives forever. And you could've been the one that they thought of when they made that decision.