Do not Think of Yourselves as Better

Do not think of Yourselves as better

I was thinking about this Sunday, in a Bible Study of the Christian New Testament book of Romans….  It came to mind that one needs to listen to the poem by Thomas Merton, a Catholic Monk, who was a  fellow member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation as I am now, and a believer in the Gospel of Peace and non-violence…

The phrases that I was thinking of were “obeyed perfectly” and “do not think of ourselves better because we burn up friends and enemies with long range missiles…”
This seems significant in today’s society, where we can launch drones from long ranges away, and missiles, and nuclear weapons, and never look into the eyes of those we condemn to destruction.  We were taught all these practices on TV, from little children on… Overcome Evil with violence, not Good… Overcoming Evil with violence has not “worked” in thousands of years, since Cain killed Abel…

I confess my own conceit and plan to write a confession of my conceit as soon as possible… I think as Christians, we should all confess our conceit, if we think of ourselves “more highly,” or better, or as “Americans.” If we think of ourselves “more highly,” or “better,” let us confess…..  All we have been given in Christ as Christians are gifts.. We are not better….  We are not more intelligent…. We are so vain… so stupid, compared to the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, “God.”

Listen to the link below, and hear the prophet speak…

http://archive.org/details/ThomasMertonChantToBeUsedInProcessionsAroundASiteWithFurnaces

Let us look into the eyes of those we refuse to love as Jesus loved, not launching long range missiles of suffering and damnation upon them… Would it be better to quickly destroy them as in Annihilationism… :):)

It is better to listen to the poem…

It is possible this will be of significance in the next few days…

Oh,  just thinking some more… I am sure this classic proof text for those who believe in war and killing will be covered but possibly completely out of context with the whole book of Romans which concerns submission and obedience to God first, then those in authority secondly:

Romans 13

13:1 “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. ”

NIV

I deliberately did not quote this verse in context, but let us be sure we obey perfectly, God, that is, not men, and let us certainly not think of ourselves as better….
Grace & Peace

John