wayseer
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- Nov 2, 2009
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... marks us as different.
Mark 10:29 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news
Luke 14:26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.
Matt. 5:47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
For most of us living in the West these sayings of Jesus seem to denigrate the status of family. But to truly appreciate what Jesus meant we need to accept the fact that the legacy of Christianity runs deeper in our secular culture than most of us suspect. An aspect of that appreciation will also reveal the profound difference between the teachings of Jesus and Muhammad.
The salient point that remains obscure for us living in a secure secular Western democracy is that back in 1st century Palestine, as in many parts of the world today, there was no sense of security other than through one own family. It was the family, of the more broadly based clan system, where one found security - where one could gain some relief or even some sense of justice. Knowing one's genealogy and descent were fundamental to one's survival. Beyond the clan family there was nothing and no one to help.
(A remanent of this system is contained in the genealogies of Jesus contained in Matthew and Luke).
This clan based arrangement demand above all else, loyalty - a loyalty that was based on the honor/shame system. One did nothing to 'shame' the family but did everything to maintain its 'honor'. This system still operates in many parts of the world and there have been reported cases in ethic groups within Western society deploying these methods of social control.
Jesus challenged and confronted these ideas. For Jesus, the 'family' of God had a far wider meaning than any immediate clan affiliation. Jesus tore apart the instinct cultural and social imperative of clans systems together with the honor/shame order. Jesus spoke of a God who crossed cultural and social, and gender, divides. Jesus pointed to God who spoke to all nations and to all peoples, not just the chosen few. There were to be no 'inlaws' or 'outlaws' in the Kingdom of God.
This unity is demonstrated in Acts where the early believers sold property and lived and lived as one. So demanding was this aspect of 'one in:all in' is demonstrated by the death of two who withheld from this universal need to support all within the community.
Western countries have embraced this aspect. Unfortunately the Church is no longer credited with what it has given society - education, hospitals, a welfare system, democracy - all of which have inherent beginnings within the words of Jesus where he advocated that we were to look beyond any family relationship. It is this 'looking beyond' that has provided the strength whereby Western democracies have, and will continue, to prevail over clan based relationships.
Compare the teachings of Jesus with that of Muhammad.
Muhammad used God (Allah) in an effort to unit the various feuding desert clans. For a while, after much negotiations and after negotiations, war, the forced unity of various clans and tribes proved effective. Until the death of Muhammad. Immediately after the death of the Prophet the old regime took over where allegiance to clan and tribe became more important than any allegiance to God.
Clans and tribes can only be contained by dictatorial rule which is why we are seeing the break up and failure of many States once the power of the incumbent is destroyed. One lives only for one's clan - nor for some 'imagined' State.
The family is useful - but only to a point. Once one engages with the wider community family ties will more often prove restrictive.
The power of Jesus' words prove true. Those countries who do not not elevate cosy familial relationships over the wider collective have proved successful.
Mark 10:29 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news
Luke 14:26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.
Matt. 5:47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
For most of us living in the West these sayings of Jesus seem to denigrate the status of family. But to truly appreciate what Jesus meant we need to accept the fact that the legacy of Christianity runs deeper in our secular culture than most of us suspect. An aspect of that appreciation will also reveal the profound difference between the teachings of Jesus and Muhammad.
The salient point that remains obscure for us living in a secure secular Western democracy is that back in 1st century Palestine, as in many parts of the world today, there was no sense of security other than through one own family. It was the family, of the more broadly based clan system, where one found security - where one could gain some relief or even some sense of justice. Knowing one's genealogy and descent were fundamental to one's survival. Beyond the clan family there was nothing and no one to help.
(A remanent of this system is contained in the genealogies of Jesus contained in Matthew and Luke).
This clan based arrangement demand above all else, loyalty - a loyalty that was based on the honor/shame system. One did nothing to 'shame' the family but did everything to maintain its 'honor'. This system still operates in many parts of the world and there have been reported cases in ethic groups within Western society deploying these methods of social control.
Jesus challenged and confronted these ideas. For Jesus, the 'family' of God had a far wider meaning than any immediate clan affiliation. Jesus tore apart the instinct cultural and social imperative of clans systems together with the honor/shame order. Jesus spoke of a God who crossed cultural and social, and gender, divides. Jesus pointed to God who spoke to all nations and to all peoples, not just the chosen few. There were to be no 'inlaws' or 'outlaws' in the Kingdom of God.
This unity is demonstrated in Acts where the early believers sold property and lived and lived as one. So demanding was this aspect of 'one in:all in' is demonstrated by the death of two who withheld from this universal need to support all within the community.
Western countries have embraced this aspect. Unfortunately the Church is no longer credited with what it has given society - education, hospitals, a welfare system, democracy - all of which have inherent beginnings within the words of Jesus where he advocated that we were to look beyond any family relationship. It is this 'looking beyond' that has provided the strength whereby Western democracies have, and will continue, to prevail over clan based relationships.
Compare the teachings of Jesus with that of Muhammad.
Muhammad used God (Allah) in an effort to unit the various feuding desert clans. For a while, after much negotiations and after negotiations, war, the forced unity of various clans and tribes proved effective. Until the death of Muhammad. Immediately after the death of the Prophet the old regime took over where allegiance to clan and tribe became more important than any allegiance to God.
Clans and tribes can only be contained by dictatorial rule which is why we are seeing the break up and failure of many States once the power of the incumbent is destroyed. One lives only for one's clan - nor for some 'imagined' State.
The family is useful - but only to a point. Once one engages with the wider community family ties will more often prove restrictive.
The power of Jesus' words prove true. Those countries who do not not elevate cosy familial relationships over the wider collective have proved successful.