Okay, the reply above is really harsh imo.
I think it is proportional. MM has posted again about this in post #21. Look what he says in response to my rather strong comments about his fickle commitment and attempts to use God's grace to wiggle out of personal accountability for his actions:
John, sorry, but I'm not convinced on your interpretation of
Matthew 5:34-37 and Jesus' words concerning vows. In the historical context, the Pharisees had different "levels" of vows / swearing which would make some of their promises essentially meaningless.
My interpretation is that Jesus clearly said don't do it, but MM is arguing that it is okay to make promises; it's just that the promise he made was foolish so it shouldn't count anymore. He wants both; he wants an excuse to break this particular vow and he wants to argue that it's okay to continue making new vows in the future.
All such swearing, vows, oaths, etc are foolish for two reasons; 1, we can't control the future and 2, it demonstrates that our "yes" can't be trusted; a binding contracted is required to force us to do what we say we'll do. But, MM made the contract. He made the vow and that still wasn't good enough; he wants out of it. Neither his yes was good enough nor his vow. He'll continue making foolish promises and then, later, when he wants out of it, he'll refer to the grace of God as the excuse, just like he did with the cards.
I had suggested that if there was some real, genuine, humble contrition and recognition regarding the foolishness of
making promises in the first place, then perhaps there
could be some room there for forgiveness and moving on from submission to the vow. God wants us to keep our word, but he also cares about our motivations and whether or not we're genuinely growing. A genuine recognition of a mistake could be a sign of growth and therefore justify leaving that foolishness behind. But MM isn't doing that.
He's not referring to the making of the vow as foolishness. He's saying the vow itself is foolish. It's a way of distancing himself from the problem. He wasn't wrong. The vow is wrong. It may seem like a subtle distinction, but it's important. In other words, he hasn't grown at all from this experience. The opposite is true; he's learned what a valuable tool grace can be for excusing his bad behaviors. Just quote a few Bible verses, perhaps a few religious platitudes, maybe mention some Bible commentators who support the same view and boom, problem gone!
That is not Christianity.