2-6-17<\/p>\n
This is something of a continuation of last week\u2019s essay. I seldom attempt this, reckoning that for most people, one week\u2019s worth of my opinions is quite enough on any subject. But circumstances, and some feedback, illuminated the reflections, so to speak, about friendship. I hope that all the flavor is not chewed out of this gum.<\/p>\n
At the risk of revealing some repellant form of insularity I might suffer, I have the opinion that despite increased travel, more frequent communication, easier social interaction\u2026 the average person has fewer friends \u2013 true, intimate, close friends \u2013 than ever in years past. I suppose there is way to ascribe logic to this state of affairs, a reasonable explanation, but that is not to avoid regretting it.<\/p>\n
The Pace of Life must bear a large share of the blame, if this is true; so the contemporary world\u2019s cornucopia of blessings surely is mixed. In fact it is on almost matters.<\/p>\n
These little bubbles we create for ourselves \u2013 last week I referred to the temptation for believers, for example, to grow more insulated from the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, as the Bible lists \u2013 these bubbles seem to us secure, womb-like. But bubbles burst. All the time.<\/p>\n
This week I was reminded of the urge \u2013 no, the necessity \u2013 of Christians to engage the World. It is frequently our lot; and we can never be sure whether circumstances are orchestrated by God, or not, to test our Witness.<\/p>\n
A friend (though casual) on Facebook (where else?) commented (in 2017, many of us seldom converse, but we frequently Comment) on a political thread (what else?). To some perceived outrage by a president I will not name, she commented, simply, \u201cJesus.\u201d By her own subsequent admission, she is not a Christian, and I perceived of what she wrote to be a curse. (By her subsequent attestation, she said she uttered it in the same manner a Christian might. I was not persuaded that she was praying; and, besides, I have heard plenty church-goers take the Lord\u2019s name in vain. In any event, obviously there was no reason to continue, in private or public, without voicing skepticism about her intention being reverent.)<\/p>\n
I yielded to the temptation to refer to her own faith tradition, which I had suspected but did not know, and cite the Second Commandment. But that hinges on the technicality of whether the utterance \u201cJesus\u201d in that context is an imprecation. A further technicality (not in my friend\u2019s case, but among many people) might be the loophole \u2013 \u201cThose shalt not take the Name of the Lord the God in vain\u201d\u2026 but taking the name of another person\u2019s Lord or God in vain is okay. <\/p>\n
It is not an irrelevant matter, because it leads us to wonder (have you ever wondered?) why people do not yell, \u201cO Buddha!\u201d when they are angry; or \u201cCon-fucius!\u201d when they stub a toe. Never \u201cMohammed damn it!\u201d when frustrated or disappointed. \u201cBy Jove!\u201d is the nearest I can think of.<\/p>\n
Why? Inching ever more relevant, for Christians, is the implication of this matter, which is more consequential than we are apt to realize. My lifetime is replete with many Jewish friends, which I happily stipulate despite the snide comments that the concept of \u201csome of my best friends\u2026\u201d always inspires. And I have heard uncountable numbers of them over the years use Jesus\u2019 Name as a curse. Or the formal title Jesus Christ, which seldom sounds more pious in those contexts.<\/p>\n
We Christians invariably take it in stride. No \u2013 \u201cin stride\u201d is an insufficient term. If my own experience is a standard, we \u201cwimp out,\u201d try to ignore it, take the offense on our Savior\u2019s behalf, and, usually, attempt not to offend the person.<\/p>\n
Shameful we are, rather.<\/p>\n
We shut up when the Creator of the Universe, the Savior of our Souls is made into a curse in our presence. Because we are too timid; or because not offending an acquaintance is more important than being complicit in an offense to the Son of God.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven\u201d (Matthew 10:33 NLE translation). <\/p>\n
By the way, my use of NLE means \u201cNo Loophole Edition\u201d of the Bible. From the Commandments to Jesus\u2019 own Words, to the Epistles, God Almighty requires respect. No loopholes, sorry. He actually asks little of us\u2026 but respect is one things. A defense is another.<\/p>\n
Through the years I have done certain things \u2013 may God forgive me, not often enough \u2013 but when I have heard a supermarket shopper or fellow office-worker utter \u201cJesus Christ!\u201d as a curse, I sometimes tell them that they are insulting my Best Friend. Being rhetorical, I have asked, \u201cDo you know Jesus that well? Do you want to continue\u2026 and talk to Him in prayer together?\u201d When I discern that I ought to be serious, I will ask if the person realizes that the Incarnation of God Almighty became Jesus in the flesh, and loved us both so much that He became the sacrifice for our sins. In other words\u2026 show some respect.<\/p>\n
It is easy to be rebuffed. Be scorned and perhaps insulted. To be spoken about as nosy, or worse (?), as a religious nut. <\/p>\n
So what? You have stood up for a Friend. You probably would do so in defense of your spouse or child. Why not your Savior? Your Best Friend.<\/p>\n
Jesus stood up for you. He laid Himself down. He scrambled up that cross, virtually, to bear your sins. To suffer and die. Defending His Name \u2013 and then sharing His love \u2013 is the least we can do.<\/p>\n
+ + + <\/p>\n