I heard Stephen Simcox speak this afternoon on the subject, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."
I did speak to him at the close of the Tuesday talk to make one or two of these points. He is welcome to come back at me, again, of course:
1) That he seemed proud of his 27 years of military service, having mentioned it twice, I believe. Perhaps, rightly proud.
2) I thought it was inappropriate for him to tell us so much about the work of a Roman centurion. I felt that he was somewhat carried away by his background and work in the military and, therefore, that explained all the details.
3) I would have liked Stephen/Steve to have mentioned that Jesus was a man of non-violence and NOT a man of violence.
4) From my reading of the Jesus of the Gospels, it is unacceptable for any true disciple to want to inherit any part of the earth - let alone the lot! But we have inherited so much, with our so good and perfect Western and Christian European empires in recent centuries. And, we 'Christians' inherited the earth by militarism and certainly not meekness!
5) I think all of us Christians should have the meekness to understand that we belong to the earth (NOT that the earth belongs to us); that we are part of Nature; and, that it is none of our business to even begin to contemplate that we could start owning the earth - but, of course, only on the Lord's behalf to make it better for Him and His return!
6) For me, having any kind of authority or power over others is not in line with the Jesus of the Gospels who rejected any such earthly power and dominion in the Temptations and throughout His ministry. Our modern day Caesars need to exercise their power and authority with extreme caution and wisdom. Preferably, only with the clear mandate of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Our modern day Christs should stay well out of it!
7) I hope that you will not ask Stephen to deliver the talk on "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God", although it might be fascinating to hear what he has to say. No doubt, he would say that the modern day centurions of our angelic British armed forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and countless other countries we have fought in, every single year, over the last 101 years, are the true peacemakers!
8) I do take and understand that Steve did do sterling and exemplary work during his time in the military, especially in Bosnia and Rwanda - if violence was no part of it.
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
More on inheriting the earth
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