Spirit of Holiness

Soon, I shall need a new theme, as our 'We Make the Road by Walking' (Brian McLaren) enters its final month!

I must confess I have felt rather bombarded with Gay Pride broadcasting this week!  I need to understand, I know, the significance of the change in the law 50 years ago, which decriminalised gay relationships in private between consenting males over 21. With it began the long and continuing journey towards outlawing the sometimes vicious prejudice against gay people of both sexes. The thing that troubles me, however, is the evident assumption that sexual freedom and multiple relationships (sometimes with either sex, in the case of bi-sexual people) are somehow 'normal'. Which is why, for a long time, I have felt that Christians who get hung up on homosexuality are tilting at the wrong target. It is not homosexuality which is the enemy of faith, it is promiscuity and infidelity - the loss of the connection between sexual expression and committed relationship.

Today's title does not entirely match the subject matter of the relevant chapter, which makes the case for a fresh understanding of 'judgment.'  In common parlance, we make a close association between judgement and punishment as in a criminal court where a judge passes sentence. And when we 'judge' other people, there is a negative connotation. However, in the Bible, a judge is one who doesn't condemn but puts things right. The obvious example of this is Solomon in 1 Kings 3.16-28, where he is petitioned by a prostitute who claims that another woman has stolen her baby, having accidentally killed her own. Rather than judge the rightness of her claim, and possibly punishing the offender, Solomon's concern is for the child that he should be with his rightful mother. In modern parlance, this is restorative rather than punitive justice.

Just so, when we talk of 'final' judgement, this is not about God condemning and destroying the wicked, but righting the wrongs which have spoiled his creation. Likewise (says our author), hellfire is more about purifying than consuming.  This changes the way we see the trials and difficulties of this life...not as punishment for our wrongs but a refining fire to strengthen and purify us (p302). So we may have a better understanding of the direction in which this world is heading, under a just and merciful God; and a better understanding of how we might cope with our own trials and tribulations.