Christianity, the Letter and Spirit

We were watching “The Raven in the Foregate” (a Cadfael mystery) last night and something struck me as insightful. The head monk said (paraphrase) that when the letter of Christianity and the spirit of Christianity clash, we rely on Christian compassion to resolve the conflict. It is something to think about.

This takes me to the role of Christ’s love in the whole scheme of things;. maybe we need to start further back.

Before one can deal with the letter of the “law,” one must know it. I have met people who in essence are very legalistic about their religion, yet have not read the whole Bible. How can someone claim to speak for the letter of the law when they do not really know all of it and the interactions, contexts and perspectives the entire Bible provides? Without the foundation of the entire Word, how can anyone claim to be an expert or authority particularly with respect to the subtler or more sensitive issues of theology? I am not saying that these people cannot be correct. I am asking how can they be sure if they do not have firsthand knowledge of all that God has said? Examples of these issues might include the role or necessity of baptism and the potential for losing salvation.

Moving past that point, how is the genuine theology intended to be delivered? Is it to be with an iron fist, or, is it to be with love and compassion? Obviously the latter, but it is more than that. Love and compassion are part and parcel of the theology. It is not like taking a bitter medicine and adding sugar to make it more pleasant. Its sweetness comes from inside Christianity itself. There are hard truths contained in some of its messages, but even these hard truths cannot be divorced from His love.

We are told not to add or subtract from what He has told us. When we do, it is not of Him. Paul made it unambiguously clear that no matter what else he had, if he did not have love, he was nothing. When the love is missing from His Word, it is no longer His Word.

The Bible teaches us to test everything we hear and see against what His Word says. If there is a conflict, we know it to be false. When we see the “letter” of the law raised without the love of Christ, the Spirit is absent and the law is just human words.

Sometimes churches forget this. It is up to each one of us to be vigilant. OK. That’s it for this morning, and…”Hey, let’s be careful out there.” (Sergeant Phil Esterhaus)

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