Danny ChaiSo it’s called the Gospel of Matthew. Here’s my question – was it ever intended to be a complete presentation of the gospel? That is, if a random isolated person who had never heard of Jesus got a copy of Matthew, would that be enough for them to understand the gospel? It must be, right? Yet, I can’t find find what we understand to be the gospel (as, say, encapsulated by John 3:16) in Matthew. There’s a ton about the kingdom. A ton also about eternal life. But believing in Jesus to forgive your sins to receive eternal life is kind of subtle. In fact, when the rich young man asks Jesus point blank what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus doesn’t mention faith at all. I’m not saying I doubt what the gospel is. It’s just weird to me that it’s not more explicit in Matthew. I’m not even sure I’d be able to formulate the gospel by quoting Matthew alone. Which is why I’m wondering if that was ever the intention.
Also been ruminating on what it means to turn the other cheek. A pretty famous Christian doctrine. But when exactly does it apply? A number of my friends have recently got ripped off or swindled in various transactions, and they’ve pursued justice. Which strikes me as right. For various reasons, one being to protect others from getting similarly swindled. But like, when exactly are we supposed to turn the other cheek? It seems like, as in these cases, there are always good reasons not to do so and pursue justice instead. We could always invoke the “so they don’t hurt other people” principle. And it’s a good principle. But I don’t know how to reconcile that with turning the other cheek, which must apply sometime. And Scripture says it’s when an enemy does it, not a friend. I’m on this taking Scripture at its word kick. So I’m wondering, when we get ripped off, are we supposed to turn the other cheek? If not, when exactly are we supposed to?
Also thinking about honoring your mother and father. I find it fascinating how much play that principle gets in Scripture. It’s very inclusion in the Ten Commandments fascinates me. The way I read it, the Ten Commandments represent the minimum principles a society needs to be well-ordered. Most of them make sense to me – respect for life, property, relationship, law. And then there’s the honor your father and mother stuck in there, as a fundamentally important societal principle. That’s fascinating. And beyond that, Jesus and Paul also specifically mention it in various places. It must be really important.
Thing is, to be honest, I don’t totally know what it means, although I have a vague sense that I don’t do it enough. Like, I’ve heard some people say the emphasis should be on the phrase “in the Lord”, which means it’s not strictly about obeying them. Which I think is true. Except it seems to me that when this is invoked, it’s more often used as an excuse not to honor/obey parents more. In fact, I think it treads dangerously close to something Jesus condemns in Matthew 15, when he says “God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” Furthermore, in most of the references to honoring your father and mother, including Jesus’ words in Matthew 15, the honor itself seems to be the emphasis, not the “in the Lord part”. So even though I agree that we are to obey “in the Lord”, I disagree with putting the emphasis there.
But I still don’t know what it means to honor your father and mother. My parents sometimes want me to do things I totally disagree with, that I even frankly think are un-Christian in spirit. I kind of feel that I don’t honor them enough, but have no real idea how to do it more. Or even what it really means.
Last thing: I love Christian culture. I know that makes me totally unhip, possibly too insular, and a host of other legitimately criticizable things. But man, I can’t help it. Like, I quite honestly love Christian music. That’s uncool because it’s derivative and not cutting-edge or whatever. But when I listen to CCM, I feel better. I love going to Christian music concerts (and miss going to them a lot). There’s some fakeness there, and it’s sometimes too Christian cheerleader-esque in the atmosphere. But I invariably come away encouraged. I love worship services of all kinds. I love visiting churches. I feel a kindred bond when I go. I just like being among Christians. I can’t help it.
I’m not sure how this is relevant, but I’ve been wondering what the current standard Christian music for kids is. For whatever reason, I don’t feel as plugged in to the evangelical Christian subculture nowadays. Like, in my day, it was Maranatha Kids, Psalty and Kids Praise. Check out some of the track listings on the Wikipedia entry for Psalty, especially the early albums. That’s like all the kids songs we knew. Sandyland, Arky Arky, Ha la la la la. Classics.
What’s the standard Christian kids music nowadays? My sister introduced us to Jana Alayra, but she can’t be the be all end all. So what is it? No clue. I’d like to know. For Abby and Joshua’s sake.