SOAP Notes

Tonight's reading: Joshua 15-17; 1 Cor 8

S:1 Cor 8:13 - Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

O: Jesus is discussing how we ought not let our knowledge of right and wrong harm those who don't share it, by doing something we know to be alright though it might create strife.

A: I used to love one of Tom Baker's occasional sayings. "Jesus was a wine-bibber," He was fond of noting, to point out (I think) that Jesus was thoroughly in this world, though not of it, and didn't hold himself separate from the people that he loved. Jesus would seek out the lost, go after the tax collector, save the prostitute and the leper.

Of course, I seized on the part of that phrase that pointed out that Jesus drank wine. Of course He did; it was a cultural norm at the time, and not a matter of taboo as it is in our modern, occasionally puritanical society.

I, of course, like beer. It appealed to me that Jesus wouldn't be offended by my beer drinking.

It appeals to me, occasionally, to hear pastoral staff talking about creating a space in a brewpub setting. It appeals to me that there are groups that already do this. It appeals to me that, every once in a blue moon, I get to have a beer in this setting here.

All of this appeals to me because I like beer (mostly) and, also, because I know that Jesus doesn't mind me drinking beer (if done in moderation and so-on). And, sometimes, I assume that my knowledge is common knowledge.

This, of course, is where I'm fatally wrong. My knowledge isn't common knowledge, and my exercise of discretion based upon that knowledge is offensive to some, hurtful to some, wicked to some, and in that sense is a disservice to all.

I think of people at church, whether highly-placed or otherwise, who I am certain are opposed to drink, for whatever reason (personal, spiritual, historical, etc.) To those people, the service of wine at communion is a tremendous sin. To them, a service at a brewpub is taking us to hell in handbasket. I know they're wrong, but I have to fight the urge to judge it. In the end, apart from this difference in our knowledge, these people have great things to bring to the table. In stepping forward with the thought that they need to be challenged to grow up, and in turn offending them, I may find I'm cutting off my nose to spite my face. By driving a wedge in, by pushing them away when it is my responsibility to be sensitive, I invite discord and disfunction and I end up harming the whole by sectioning off a part.

It's a tricky balance. You certainly mustn't let cliques and factions rule; you certainly have to govern toward the health of the collective and, as such, have to be knowledgeable that some will feel left behind. You can't please everyone all the time. But with that in mind, we need to be judicious in where and how we push forward, and conscious of the challenges we present to some; where appropriate, we need to be ready to hold back until everyone is able to take certain steps together, even if that sometimes means never taking certain steps at all...

P: Lord, help me to be more sensitive to those around me. Let me understand where my behaviors, whether right or wrong in themselves, create unnecessary discord in others. Help me to put the good of the many ahead of my own selfish desires. Amen