Seek Good

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. 
Amos 5:14-15

Introduction

During seminary, I was required to study ancient Hebrew (this was both for my denomination and school). The last class in the study was biblical research (exegesis is the technical term).  I chose a passage from the prophet Amos to study and write a paper. I would say in the course of study that I became very close to the book. I enjoyed the research and getting to know this great book. Recently I was brought back to this book in my devotions. My love for this book was reawaken.

At this time in history, the people of Israel are split between two nations, North and South. The northern kingdom keeps the title of Israel while the southern kingdom is only known as Judah. Amos is sent to the whole of the people of Israel, but he is specifically preaching to the people of Israel. 

I find the work of the prophet interesting in that the first prophecies are against other nations and against the enemies of the Israelites. The prophet lists through all the troubles caused by the other nations. Amos even gets to the point of listing of the sins of Judah. Then the attention is brought to the people of Israel. The sins they have committed that caused God to turn God's back on them and the repercussions of these actions. 

The Sins

What did the people do that was so wrong? The first and most important action was they turned their backs on God. God had sent prophets and Nazirites to help the people.  The people killed the prophets and most importantly they oppressed the poor in search of greater wealth. Through all of these actions, God's anger enraged. The time was to come when the people were to be punished for the sins. The prophet calls gives a chance of grace to the people of Israel.  

Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it. Amos 5:6

 Today

I was taken back by the advice of Amos 5 to turn back to God and the call to do good. I am curious how this works in a modern situation between the "liberal" ideology and the "conservative" ideology. One is calling upon a less open market and sharing of wealth while the other calls for a more open market. Are we in the face of a time similar to Amos? Are we putting profit ahead of people? These are the words against the people of Israel:

For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name. They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines. Amos 2:6-8

We as followers of Christ live in perilous times. We are called to do the good God and serve the poor. We also must be cautious and not create a culture of dependency on the gifts of the church.

Am I a bad Presbyterian?

This week, my brand of Christianity, has our large denominational meeting in Detroit. We call this meeting General Assembly (GA). It has representatives from across the country and advisers from around the world gathering to make decisions on rules of government, policy, and theological stands. But, I find myself less enchanted with the meeting than in the past. I really don’t care about what happens. Here are a few of my reasons. Please, let me know if these are wrong.

My number one reason is little if nothing changes. Again this year, a debate will be held on sexuality and the ability of LGBT to hold office in our denomination and marriage. This debate has been going on for about as long as I have been alive. There is no middle ground for either side. It has come to all-or-nothing. It will continue to bring pain to the whole. I don’t have an answer for a middle ground. This topic is sided with a more recent action to suspended investment in companies selling machinery and supplies to Israel for the express purpose of pushing the Palestinians out of their homes and property. This also is a all-or-nothing debate. Those wishing to stop the expansion call for support and peace for the Palestinians. The other side is calling on the support of Israel. I can make connections with both sides of the debate. No one will really win in the end. The hardest part of the argument is that both sides are claiming this will help the expansion of God's Kingdom. After all the fighting (there is and will be much) no one wins. Christ is divided further; more finances, resources and energy will be wasted. All of this will mean we’ll revisit the issues in two years and debate among our local regions till the next assembly.

The policy's created and started at GA are all trickle down. As we face some of the worst economic factors in modern history, I am told the ideas of Trickle Down Economics do not work. Our government once had this type of policy during President Reagan's terms. We are told it does not work today. Why are we doing this in the church. Two very promising proposals of education action and missional church focus are being proposed to the assembly for a focus in the next few years. We want these ideals to trickle down to the local level. How? Many of our loyal and faithful members of the denomination are not aware that GA is meeting this week much less the issues being discussed. If these policies pass, how will they be enacted locally? How can we get funding to local congregations? If trickle down does not work in economics, why should we think it will work in churches?

In over ten years of ministry, I have been frustrated by events at the GA. Yet, for all the frustrations, I do not remember a time when I had to change any practice or ministry in my local congregations because of the decisions. I just saw the loss of resources to debate (nice word for fight) issues with no middle or compromising position. SO, in the end, I admit, I do not care. I will pray for the delegates and their travels. I hope and pray for the day when our assemblies become less bureaucratic. But this is the nature of an institution. Here is one idea, lets start a national orphanage for the children being housed on the military bases. Give the children some positive reinforcement for education and a better life. Just maybe, a taste of Christ's grace. This might just start a pandemic among the congregations.

But I am just a simple pastor who might be admitting to the world, I am a bad Presbyterian.