I fully agree with a uniformity of Christ-like character that guides our choices and how we treat others and live our lives. The question to me is at what point does uniform behavior become legalism or acting the part rather than living our lives according to our unique callings and unique God-intended and God-given differences?
A great question! Can a uniformity of behaviour that is in conformity to Christ ever become legalistic? It seems to me the closer people come to full Christlikeness, the farther from legalism they would be in their thinking and behaviour. I'm not sure why you would think that as people converge upon Christ more and more in their living and being, their "unique callings" and character and personality distinctives would diminish. Can you explain a bit?
Who decides which interpretation of various scripture verses constitutes the proper behavior of all Christians in all situations?
So, are you thinking that all scripture is up for grabs as far as its interpretation is concerned? Do you believe there are no clear, unequivocal statements the Bible makes about Christian doctrine, practice and the will and nature of God?
Acts 3 with the healing of the lame man in the Temple. "He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God."
Acts 3:8 NIV. This appears to be much more of a reaction of excitement, amazement, and thanksgiving being expressed in a unique manner than in a formal temple ritual "to be done in case of miraculous healing."
In addition, these passages seem to contain examples where praise is the natural reaction to God and what He does.
Matt 9:8, Matt 14:33, Matt 15:31,
Mark 2:12,
Luke 2:28,
Luke 5:26,
Luke 7:16,
Luke 13:13,
Luke 18:43,
Luke 19:37, I Cor 14:25, Gal 1:24,
James 5:13,
Thanks for the scriptural leg work here! It's interesting that the passage from Acts 3 that you cited is merely descriptive, not
prescriptive. The passage doesn't tell us to go and do likewise; it just records the formerly lame man's reaction to being healed. His is certainly a natural response to being healed. Walking and jumping would be things I would be doing, too, if I'd just been healed of lameness. But is this kind of behaviour what believers
ought to aim for in their worship and praise of God? I'm not so sure...
I am absolutely for our worship and praise of God arising naturally from our recognition of His power, grace, holiness, and love. But is praise arising from this recognition the same thing as praise being expressed in a sensual, physical (aka "natural") way? Many of the verses you cited don't record anything but the fact that God was glorified. How, exactly, is not described in much detail or in most cases prescribed, either. What
is common throughout all of the verses is the orientation of the person upon God; He is the focus, not the effect upon one's senses occasioned by God's activity. I don't see this going on within the NAR movement. It is the
sensual experience of God that is the main thing, not God Himself.
What I was understanding as the gist of your point was that any involvement of our human nature with worship or service of God is a bad thing.
Ah. I see. Well, I wasn't intending to go that far in my blog post. As I said a couple of times in it, we are inevitably sensual beings. It's how God has made us. We can't ever entirely free ourselves from this reality; nor, I think, should we. Our propensity to be sensual about everything, however, to want an experience that stimulates our physical senses, is a propensity that arises from our flesh, from our physical (and fallen) nature, and as such is extremely prone to Self-centeredness rather than God-centeredness. Inasmuch as this is so, we ought to work as much as possible to limit appeals to our fleshly, sensual nature in our worship and fellowship with God. We can't do so
entirely, however, since we are fundamentally material beings. We sing songs of praise, we pray, we listen to sermons and talk about God's truth, we encourage each other and are the hands, and feet, and heart of Christ to a lost world. To one degree or another, doing these things involves our physical senses and our bodies. And that's all right. How else are we to do these things if not with our physical selves? But I must be very careful to remember that "the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other" (
Ga. 5:17) and that "he who sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." (
Ga. 6:7) In light of these truths, I must keep a tight rein on my flesh, on my inclination to reduce the spiritual to the physical, and center my focus upon Christ, not upon a sensual experience of him.
I think the point that needs to be cleared defined is the difference between "old man"/sin-nature/flesh (which cannot please God) and what unique human parts of us are there because God wants them to be there and should be used in worship and service.
(This is a nice thread. It's forcing me to clarify my thoughts on a few points.)
I agree. And, for me, making clear distinctions in this regard is a work in progress. How do you apply the verses I offered in my blog post about the contrariness of the spiritual to the physical to your own life? At this point, I look primarily at what my focus is as I worship, serve and fellowship with God. Anything (of the flesh in particular) that diverts my attention away from God, from Christ, from the Holy Spirit, is an enemy of my walk with Him. If, for instance, the songs of worship that I sing provoke my body, and appeal to a self-centered acknowledgement of God, or bring God down to my level rather than lifting me up to His, I ought to reject them. If the preacher I listen to is constantly urging me to sensual experiences of God (ie healing, tongues, being slain in the Spirit, energy play, etc) rather than "walking by faith, not by sight," I ought to find another preacher to listen to. If I am looking constantly for physical/emotional validation of my relationship with God via sensations of Him (tingles, electric shocks, warm oozies) or strong emotional activation (laughing, crying) then I've begun to go very awry in my walk with Him. What do you think? Do you have any concrete standards in this area?
I'm glad the thread is of benefit to you. It is to me, too. Your comments help me refine my thinking and my explanations of it. Thanks!
Aiki.