Parking Holiness

Not the sign that got me, but a typical example.

One of the complaints people level against God is the strict arbitrariness of His law—one strike and you’re punished for eternity. There is a modern day equivalent…of the stereotype.

Right outside my office window is a service drive, with several signs predicting Armageddon if you park there. I do from time to time if I simply have to run to my office and pick up or drop off something, and no more. This past Saturday afternoon, I needed to get my laptop on my way out of town for a family birthday. While in my office, nature called on the red phone, and in fear and trembling I hurried to the little chemist’s room. Sure enough, when I returned to my vehicle, the service drive was flowing with the blood of the damned, a $75 parking citation. On campus!

In my opinion, the Uni’s Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) is aptly named, if you understand “service” in the context of a farmer servicing his bull and herd. The rules are without mercy, and if you are caught, the penalty is severe. They are completely self-funded—based on citation revenue, $500 annual parking permits, plus other fees and costs recovery. Thus, it is in their best interest to fine first and laugh at appeals. Yes, I am bitter and frustrated, not the most Biblical of attitudes.

Yet, it captures the way many people view God and His holiness:  arbitrary, on a power trip, a killjoy, no mercy, delighting in the pain, suffering and frustration of basically good people. Many are embittered and frustrated, believing God can’t be a God of love if He’ll punish people all out of proportion when the smallest toe creeps the narrowest nanometer over a line even thinner and maybe in motion.

Except…

Consistency

We humans are remarkable creatures in many ways, not all of them good. In particular, we have an amazing capacity to rationalize our morality, seeing others' shortcomings and ignoring our own. It is difficult to “judge rightly,” as the Bible calls it. (John 7:24)

Well targeted was Christ’s command to pull the log out of our own eyes so that we can see clearly the speck in our brother’s. We even judge each other on judging. We quote, “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” but fail to remember the rest of the quote that says we will be judged by the standard we use to judge others.

Humanity

I think I’ve commented on this verse before, but it is so fundamental that its applications seem never ending. Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown thee, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”

What this tells us is the God looks at our character, our heart, not our intelligence, socioeconomic status, or anything else. For us as academics, at the top of our field, where we receive accolades because of our abilities, this can be difficult to accept.

Caring Too Much

This evening, Friday night of Thanksgiving weekend, I received a text message from one of my Teaching Assistants. “Hi, Dr. Wilson. Can you call me when u get a chance? We are having issues in [class]”

I was in the middle of something, away from my computer, and wanted to check email before calling him, to see if there was more information there, as I like to have all of the information possible before discussing it with those involved.

It wasn’t meant to be. About five minutes later, the phone rang. I jokingly reproved him, “I thought you wanted me to call you when I had the chance?”

God-In-The-Box

We have a problem. The Bible hasn’t changed in nearly two millennia, but how we view God changes regularly and certain aspects of His character rise and fall in trendy popularity. In short, regardless of how His Word describes Him, we still “create” God in our image.

During pretty much my whole lifetime, our culture focuses on the aspects of God that deal with love—‘Our Father in heaven,’ ‘God is love,’ and so on, with just enough of His justice so that we can get back to mercy, grace, love, peace, blessings, and so on with some sort of ‘context.’

There is also a kick of flavor added in by Lewis (in Narnia), Young (in The Shack) and others, including me who talk about God’s unpredictability, that He is wild and doesn’t conform to our image of him, but we still tend to think of things more on the softer side of wild, as a whole.

It was not like that 200+ years ago.

Jury of Our Peers

I have to appear at the courthouse Monday morning at 8:30 for jury duty. It’s the first time I haven’t had a legitimate excuse for not serving. So, I am somewhat interested in going through the process. I have long heard people complain when they are summoned, and have wondered why. Some of the reasons make some sense—it is an interruption of daily life for an unknown period of time, potentially unpaid time off of work with a pittance for compensation, etc. As I talked to some folks who have served, other reasons come up—a fear of reprisal by the defendant if it is a particularly nasty case and the weight of responsibility of deciding another human being's fate.

The first set is normal frustration with interruption in our lives, and not really worth a lot of comment—if the interruption isn’t jury duty, it might be a busted pipe, broken car, illness, etc.

The second set is more weighty. There are some truly evil folks in this world, and most to some degree resent being caught and may seek retribution on the jury. Fortunately, this seems to be a rare occurrence, happening more on TV and in the movies than in real life.

But what of the last reason—we are charged with the responsibility of deciding whether a human being is guilty. Sometimes, it seems, it can be based less on facts than the quality of the courtroom performance by the attorneys, which adds another whole dimension to it. We are given the authority to decide someone’s guilt or innocence, and if guilty, how to punish them. The defendant isn’t the only life we impact. There is the impact on the victim(s) of the crime. If we decide wrong, how will their lives be affected?

As a faculty member, I am somewhat used to judging the performance of others, my students, and some of those decisions do have lasting impact in their lives—if this student fails my class and doesn’t get into med school, whose lives may be affected for better or worse by that person not becoming a doctor? We can’t let ourselves get wrapped up in that or we’ll lose our effectiveness.

Yet the issue remains—we are called as citizens to judge but Christ says not to judge because the standards by which we judge others are the ones used for us. Even David, when he sinned in conducting the census, pleaded for God to judge him and not man, because of God’s mercy and true knowledge of justice.  It IS a weighty matter to be a decider of fate that we should treat somberly. At the same time, God put us on the Earth to be stewards—to rule with justice and mercy, so there is a place for it biblically. But let us judge appropriately—at the right times, with the right humility, and for the right reasons, and in a right fear of the God to whom we are accountable for even our idle words.

Thank you, Jesus for the grace you bought us on the cross, that frees us from the paralysis of our own condemnation, and give us the wisdom to decide rightly.

SDG