16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:!6-18 CSB)
In my bible, Romans 12:9-21 is subtitled “Christian Ethics”. However, I believe it should just be ethics. Just like the excerpt from that section of scripture noted above, it gives some really sound advice for living an ethical life.
The beauty of scripture is that it is all very practical advice. While there may be mysteries surrounding some aspects of scripture, most of its advice is very straightforward. It is written for the common man, and as such, I believe it can be lost on the learned.
You see I firmly believe that we can let our academic study and knowledge, our intelligence, get in the way. We begin to try to rationalize our behavior that is in opposition to scriptural truth.
In this way we start a process where we skew the interpretation of scripture to fit our social and intellectual views. This, my friend, is a very slippery slope.
We need to read scripture with a child’s eyes and an open heart. Allowing it to sink into our very pores so that we might absorb the wisdom contained within without compromise. God’s ethics become our ethics in the simplest and most complex ways. Scripture becomes a sounding board for our thoughts and actions.
Then, and only then, can we really embrace Christian ethics.
