“Some of the language which chaste women in Shakespeare’s day would have been used in the 19th century only by a woman completely abandoned. When people break the rule of propriety current in their own time and place, if they do so in order to excite lust in themselves or others, then they offending against chastity. But if they break it through ignorance or carelessness they are guilty only of bad manners. When, as often happens, they break it defiantly in order to shock or embarrass others, they are not necessarily being unchaste, but they are being uncharitable: for it is uncharitable to take pleasure in making other people uncomfortable.”
I would, however, add one qualification to Lewis's statement (a qualification I think he would agree with): it is not always unloving to make people uncomfortable. When people are 'at ease in Zion,' comfortable in their idolatry or their legalism, sometimes the most loving thing we can do is to shock them out of their stupor. But our goal must always be for them to be saved, not for us to look cool. When Isaiah informed the Israelites that their righteous deeds were like a filthy menstrual cloth ("a bloody tampon," as one preacher aptly paraphrased it), I doubt he was trying to contextualize to the younger generation.--C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
The best sermon I have ever heard that deals with this issue is Ryan Fullerton's sermon on Galatians 5:12, a text in which the Apostle Paul wishes aloud that false teachers would emasculate themselves. Fullerton is pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Louisville, KY, and was formerly Chris and Tiffany Davis's pastor. The sermon, titled "Harsh, Sarcastic, and Crass for the Sake of the Gospel," can be heard or downloaded here: http://www.ibclouisville.org/old/sermon/06-27-2009/harsh-sarcastic-and-crass-sake-gospel
No comments:
Post a Comment