When things get really stormy, umbrellas are silly. Get a poncho.
I found something to keep me occupied while stuck inside the house today. I tend to agree with the substance of this long article about world political affairs and economics. I am hardly pro-Russian or a fan of Putin, but I do believe the author has a good grasp of probabilities.
Let’s put it in the context of this blog. Quantum Morality says we look at this on multiple levels. Of highest importance is the spiritual truth that none of this really matters much. That is, all of it is mere background noise against the ultimate necessity of Our Father’s glory in the Son. You and I are called to keep that in the central place in our attention.
On the moral level, we know that we handle such human affairs with the broad abstractions of Noah’s Covenant. You can pick over the Ten Commandments, but you could also miss the point entirely. There are some things we just don’t do as believers, no matter what the context might be. An obvious example would be profligate sexual misconduct. Whatever your calling and the moves of the Spirit, God reveals that He has never been in favor of loose sexual morals. So while we surely are kind and generous to prostitutes in their very real human needs, we don’t help them ply their trade. But there are plenty of other human activities where morality is more ambivalent and contextual.
On the practical level, knowing all the crap that is coming our way, we are in a better position to keep our eyes open for opportunities to exploit this world for Our Father’s glory through our good moral behavior. God doesn’t call people to engage in prostitution, but He does call people in most other human occupations, in the sense that He wants us as His witnesses in the entire range of human activity. How we gain the acceptance of other folks for being there is a matter of individual conscience.
Naturally, you will come into conflict with the idolatry of varying human loyalties to this or that Great Cause or Great Man. You’ll face a lot of pressure to conform to very human orthodoxies masquerading as sacred duty. That cynicism is simply a warning of how you need to prepare for God’s hand to work in your life. Maybe you don’t plan to witness in prison, but obeying the Spirit could easily bring you there in our crazy world. You are not in the driver’s seat, but you can prepare your heart to overrule your mind and learn to seize the shalom of God wherever He stores it up for you.
So if you are anywhere in the Western Empire today, you should make ready for a high probability of being coerced by the government into a number of different activities in support of unconscionable evil. You are not in a position to stop much of it. Your choices may be reduced between willing service of slavery in various forms, to include incarceration. Listen to your heart first and decide what your conscience will tolerate. Choose the path that leads to peace in your heart, not simply peace with your logic. Logic was never meant to rule, but to organize and implement decisions made in the heart.
Your survival is not a major goal. Your moral prosperity within the context of your life while it lasts is a major goal, as the means to pointing the world to His glory. Read articles such as the one I linked and take your own counsel in prayer. Your pastor is not concerned with your conduct, but your shalom.
Logic is like an umbrella — useful but not for much. A strong moral conscience is more like a poncho.
