2022-12-11 A Meditation on Devolution

“When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!” (1 Co 6:1–8 ESV)

All of us know the devolution of morals, when all life becomes a quantified grabbing and haste to rob our neighbor, that is, to have secular judicial decisions made in our favor. All of us know the resilience wherein we walk the higher ground, principled, determined. And it is strange, the quality and quantity of differences that do manifest, the quality and quantity of (we might even say) advantage thrown our way by the Holy Spirit. That is, we are given good things. Our embedded perch, calling out across sociological divides of place and circumstance, is joyous and workable. Yet all this because in fact we have underestimated a state of mind we perhaps have blissfully grown forgetful of. We forget what it’s like to have no afterlife in mind, to resent any “Christian” words, to feel envy or that we are slighted in the exchange; to ridicule and lambast the believers in our midst.

So we work to fortify our spiritual digs. In submission, spiritually-speaking, to a good Bishop and Author of life, we wonder what service we can afford for Jesus today. Yes, to afford good service is to understand residing near to sad mode, near to forlorn mode, near to the dregs and hard circumstances of the faithful in this life. We do see that Christianity is pan-cultural, found outside church walls and, for that matter, sometimes very little within said walls of the assembly. We see quizzical glances when we discuss a Christian principle or calling. But also we know our gospel is only offensive to sin; to leaders and authorities, we are submitted and grateful. We are inoffensive, knowing that there is no need to lambast and judge others; this hour, there are many good people in government; many, too, in finance; many in higher education; many in corporate life. We read of principled organizations, and understand that plain conviction of the heart wherein someone decides to stick to principles of fair play and honest employment and societal conscientiousness.

So the roll call is for a post-devolved uprising unto the courts of a God who doesn’t spoil us nor give us more assurance beyond that All-Encompassing assurance of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection. We dwell in our foxholes and embedded positions rightly assured that our desire to “do good” is met with our gift from On High: the soul converted, the soul convicted, the soul leaning unto our poor and our poor in spirit.