Legal but Wrong
Are we Christians held to a higher standard?
'You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall not murder"; and "whoever murders shall be liable to judgment." But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, "You fool," you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. - Matthew 5:21-26
Which is easier to follow the commandment not to murder, or to do away with anger?
Jesus tells us we may still be guilty of sin if we obey the commandments but harbor anger and hatred toward others. That doesn't seem fair in a way. If you are following the law, how can you still be guilty?
Jesus wants us to be self-critical. Are we being true to our faith or being hypocrites?
If we have anger or hatred in our hearts, how can we be ready to bring our gifts to God? So long as something is eating at us, we are not in a state of grace, and that should be our goal.
It is not enough to say we obey the laws, since the laws are like guardrails on a highway. Just because we don't bump into them it doesn't mean we are safe drivers.
The leaders of the faith in Jesus' time believed people needed more laws to clarify the gaps in the commandments, but Jesus holds us accountable for those gaps. We should know better, and we do know better, since we look for the loop holes to slide through when we want to get around the law.
If we are willing to hold others to a higher standard, we should be willing to hold ourselves to those same standards. We shouldn't need more laws to tell us what is right. We know.
And that is why we need to remove the log in our eye before taking the stick out of someone else's eye.
More to come...