How to make the world a better place

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

A straightforward enough logic train I've been working out:

To make the world a better place, you need to make people better people.

How?

As I've learned from my time as a camp counselor, you need to give people something to say "No" to, but also something to say "Yes" to.

As a broad example, you teach people to say "No" to selfishness, and solidify it by getting people to say "Yes" to respect & appreciation of others.

People will not always do this as well as they should, so there should be some amount of monitoring, but also some amount of comforting. Then people can be held accountable for screwing up, but also be assisted when they want to do better.

Because humans can't always monitor or comfort, it's best to pass this job onto a God.

So you should bring people to a God that is somewhat punitive, somewhat comforting, and omnipresent.

So far, we've given people discipline, something to say "Yes" to, and an omnipresent God to assist in this process.

So all we need now is a solid rulebook to explain what you should and shouldn't say "No" to, and a community of people to help people know what to say "Yes" to.

So we bring them to the Church, give them a Bible, give them a Catechism, and give them a good group of people to work with!

Now they have a solid set of rules & explanation of the God (Bible), and to clear up moral discrepancies between people who read their Bible, we direct them to a book that's a product of 2,000 years of reading & interpreting the Bible, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so the Catechism can give well-founded rules, and a Church directs them to good people to continue the discussion & have good friends!

Because they have something to say "No" to, they won't do as many bad things; because they have something to say "Yes" to, they're far less likely to relapse. Because they have a Bible, they can constantly learn about the somewhat punitive, somewhat comforting God. And because they have a Catechism, they have a clear interpretation of the Bible from 2,000 years of scholars, for a good rulebook for many issues in life!

And, with enough patience & motivation, they will continue the process by evangelizing on their own, and enjoy being with other good influences from their church!

Thoughts?

 

[bcbsr]

So all we need now is a solid rulebook

Nope, doesn't work. Even under a theocracy it didn't work. Did the Law make Israel into better people? No. You can't legislate morality. Jer 13:23 "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil." What's needed is regeneration. And regeneration is only available under the New Covenant which is entered into by faith in the gospel. Thus the best that can be done for society is to make the gospel available, so that having come to faith, people will become better people.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15).

"How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14).

 

[com7fy8]

You can't legislate morality.

No law can make people love. It is not only about morality, but how we become and relate in God's love. And this is what you possibly mean by getting regenerated >

What's needed is regeneration.

To me, this means being changed by God so my nature is like His love > 1 John 4:17.

Otherwise, it is reform but with no real deep change.

So all we need now is a solid rulebook to explain what you should and shouldn't say "No" to, and a community of people to help people know what to say "Yes" to.

How this works can depend on who is doing it. Certain people might mainly have a no-no list of Ten Commandments violations, and they may say be good to each other.

Others might say to say no to what in us can degrade us from how God wants us to love and forgive. And say yes to seeking God to correct us into the image of Jesus.

So, ones doing this might have differences in what gets attention, in the Bible.

"Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation," (in Philippians 2:13-16)

I have not known many teachers who make a point of talking about stopping all our complaining and arguing . . . in order that we may become blameless and harmless and "without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation".

In any case, regeneration is what will change us to become "blameless and harmless, children of God without fault" < this is certainly possible with God > "in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation".

Because they have a Bible, they can constantly learn about the somewhat punitive, somewhat comforting God.

Punishing is not necessarily truly correcting someone to become how God's love has our character becoming > Hebrews 12:4-14. We don't need to be comforted while we are still living in a self-attentive way and not actively seeking our Father for real correction.

 

[Tolworth John]

you need to make people better people.

Can't be done.
Despite peoples mest efforts education as a way of making better people hasn't.
Despite communisms best effort they didn't or haven't produced the perfect socialist man.

All efforts to make a better man do not take into account mans spiritual side, they are all materialistic soloutions.

The only know way to make a better man is to teach Christianity and to practice it so it is the normal mode of behaviour for both Christian and non christian.

Have fun promoting this in a godless world.

 

[timothyu]

Jesus said to reject the world man has made based upon our self will but not to rebel against that world. We are to live by the ways of God and his Kingdom, along side the word of man even as they hate us for it. Loving neighbour as self will never straighten out the world until the return of Jesus but it helps us and those we help. It beats seeking gain at the expense of another, or aligning church with the world of man as yet another institution of power and authority man loves to see as essential for gain at the expense of others.