Adjusting to a Spoiled World
"For your hardness of heart Moses wrote you this commandment, but from the beginning it was not so."
Matthew 19:8.
The natural principles that guide us in serving God have not changed since mankind was created, but in post-defection conditions they need to be applied in some new ways.
God never intended man's progress to be effortless. Even without Defection mistakes would be made and it would sometimes be proper to backtrack to find a new path, to tear down in order to build, to wound in order to heal. I call this the surgical principle.
But in post-Defection conditions the surgical principle applies more widely.
In an unspoiled world two assumptions would be proper that in a spoiled world are not.
One of these concerns the wickedness of myself.
The other concerns the wickedness of others.
One's Own Wickedness
The first obsolete assumption is that I am godly.
At the deepest level every self, as they develop, senses their wicked predisposition and consequently adjusts their attitude. But there are two ways to do this.
The wrong way is to formulate defection by creating idols, as explained on a previous page.
The right way is to repent, responding to the ever-present intuition of God's voice calling us to trust him for restoration.
Reparation. Each of us has a duty where possible to undo the ill effects of ouur own wrongdoings, and when in doubt to err on the side of overcompensation.
"If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold."
The gospel according to Luke 19:8.
Self-reform. The duty of self-improvement now includes the duty of self-reform, that is, to purge oneself of the deviant habits that spring from wicked choices.
"Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"
The gospel according to Matthew 7:3.
Much has been said on this point by others, and I see no need to add much. Suffice it to say that, for us who deem ourselves obliged to address the specks of others, the danger of neglecting our own logs is perennial and grave. But this is no excuse to disregard the specks, to which I now turn, with a final request to God. (I call this The Critic's Prayer.) "Have mercy on me, a wrongdoer, and help me, in studying others' faults, not to forget my own."
For welldoers, repentance should be coupled with trust in the inspiring grace of God the Indweller. A vast literature of self-examination expounds this theme, and I see no need to add to it. The experience of grace leads to The Critic's Prayer being enhanced. "Have mercy on me, a wrongdoer, and help me, in studying others' faults, not to forget my own, or to flag in gratitude to you for forgiving the wickedness that produced them."
For the new humanity, the form of this is rather different. (Details TBA.)
The Wickedness of Others
The other obsolete assumption is that others are godly.
The proper modes of response to others' wickedness include:
1. Separation. Pursuing our developmental task involves reaching accords with others. The more all parties share a single Attitude with us, the easier, deeper and broader such accords will tend to be. This is a reason to cultivate the integrity of a single coherent Attitude, and is why we should generally prefer to seek accord with others who share that Attitude.
For welldoers there is the possibility of stable and united welldoing in the ekklesia, which introduces a new form of separation that we can call Division.
For the new humanity, the ekklesia takes a new form, with Christ at its head and God the Indweller not only present but "poured out" (Acts 2.33).
Latitudinarians would say: "A relationship with God is first and foremost a personal thing, and different people are led in different ways. Unity is good, but complete separation would require a degree of uniformity that conflicts with the spirit of the New Covenant Book."
On the contrary, such unity is presupposed throughout the New Covenant Book. See Latitudinarianism.
Christian Integrationists would say: "The New Covenant Book encourages collaboration with distrusters in most fields, rather than the kind of separation you advocate."
See Christian Integrationism and Christian Congregations.
2. Counteraction (against encroachment). When self or property is disturbed or threatened by actual or anticipated encroachment, it is proper to defend them.
On such encroachments in general, see Counteraction.
For encroachments on women in particular, see Gynaic Encroachments.
3. Dialog. But it is also proper to engage in dialog with those who seem not to share our Attitude. See Dialog.
For the new humanity, an addditional form of dialog is evangelism, in which evangelists preach Christ to wrongdoers. This seems to be the usual means through which God realigns them.
I will add no further details here, as my focus throughout this site is on the content of evangelism rather than its method. Any defects in evangelistic method are less important, though they are not insignificant, and I hope at some point to add more on this topic.
Some Christians would say: "You understate the importance of evangelism. Everything reborns do, jointly and singly, should be designed to attract new members."
This is putting the cart before the horse. Reborn life cannot be defined in terms of evangelism, it has to be the other way round.
Evangelism is an invitation to join something. The invitation is empty unless we first understand what that something is. If I invite you to a party, you will want to know what kind of party it is; and it will be no use my saying "It's the kind of party that I am very keen to invite you to".
4. Adaptation. Some effects of wickedness are impractical to avoid by separation, undo by counteraction or reduce by dialog. Then all we can do is to muddle along. See Adaptation.