Ethical Reflections: Being Truthful – The First Rung of Christian Ethics

In the last column, we identified ten facets of our lives as human beings about which we must apply ourselves to ethical reflection. We talked about feelings and thoughts, and recognized that we do not always directly choose them. Nevertheless, we are responsible for what we incubate in our hearts and bring to fruition. We said that biblical ethics must begin with an analysis of the contents of our desires, motives, and intents as the most basic consideration. This analysis requires truthfulness, or to be “full of truth.” We have no hope of growing more ethical if we try to skip this step.

Setting our heart on pleasing God and doing the right thing is crucial to actually living righteously, but we will never get around to trying to please God if we are not willing to honestly consider what in our lives might not be pleasing Him. If we focus only on disciplining our flesh and acting “properly,” we will be getting the cart before the horse, or the act before the heart. If our hearts are set primarily on self-satisfaction, for instance, we may do and say many things that might look good but are really “hostile to God” according to God’s Word:

Romans 8:7
For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot.

But how are we to know if our heart is set on the right thing? We have to have an internal guide as well as an external and objective moral standard by which to evaluate ourselves. For Christians, the internal guide is the spirit of truth, the gift of holy spirit within that guides us toward Christ-likeness. The external standard is the Word of God, which invites us to honest evaluation of our true motives so that we can “walk in the light,” as He is light. One of the chief characteristics of the flesh is its tendency to deception, and we must always be aware of our potential to create and maintain fictional stories to explain the way our lives have gone. If we are divorced, it is because our spouse was a jerk. If we are unemployed, it’s because the economy is bad. Better to live in the stark truth and trust God to meet us. We were not a big enough person to handle the challenges of our marriage. We did not work hard enough or smart enough to sustain our employability, etc. Ethical reflection requires that we face the truth that we are probably more responsible for our condition than we want to admit. Thinking this way gives God the greatest leverage to move our lives toward blessing and abundance. Our faith seems to soar the more connected we get with our own inadequacy and our need for God’s grace and mercy.

When we are in the flesh, it is so easy to deceive ourselves and live in denial of what is truly motivating us. For instance, we may say that we are “standing on principles” when we refuse to congratulate someone who beat us in a contest, telling ourselves that we were cheated in some way. But what may really be going on in our heart is that we envy their success and feel too diminished to be gracious in defeat.

Christian ministers who abuse others sexually might tell themselves that they are helping the person in some way, but what is really motivating them is their fleshly desires and the ego gratification involved.

Whatever action or inaction we take that is motivated by envy, hatred, etc. expresses hostility toward God and a lack of faith in who we are in Christ. Because we can so easily deceive ourselves, Scripture commands us to “put away” our “old man” (KJV), or our “former way of life” (NRSV).

Ephesians 4:22
You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts.

This is a good translation, in my opinion, because “the old man” is the old way we conducted our lives, beginning with our attitudes and deceptive desires. We made dishonesty, selfish desires, envy, etc. into a lifestyle.

Ephesians 2:3
All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.

Now we are to make a new life based on Christ, the Word of God, and the spirit of God that lives in us.

Ephesians 4:24
And to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

We are to put on this new self as an act of our will, with faith that the spirit of God is in us to support this change of lifestyle. This new lifestyle is based on true righteousness and holiness, with honesty at the foundation. That is why the very first moral commandment that follows concerns honesty:

Ephesians 4:25
So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.

To speak the truth to our neighbors means that we are speaking the truth first to ourselves, and no longer allowing ourselves to live in deception. If we ask the Lord to reveal the true state of our hearts, he will. It may not be flattering, but it is liberating. When we see that what is really motivating us is fear, doubt, hurt, anger, envy, etc., we can repent and choose to be motivated by love for God and neighbor. As long as we are living in darkness, we have no choice but to walk according to the flesh.

It is a true statement that God is interested in an honest attitude of heart, or “an upright heart,” before he is interested in “right conduct.” This is a consistent theme throughout the Bible. Right conduct will follow from a right heart.

Psalm 51:5, 6 and 17
(5) Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
(6) You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
(17) The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

2 Corinthians 4:2
We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.

Ephesians 4:15a (Amplified)
Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth in all things—speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly.

It is not enough to just change our attitude, although this is basic. We must also shine the light of God’s Word and God’s spirit on our words, actions, habits (addictions), lifestyles, and worldviews. All must be brought under the obedience of Christ to live the life that he made available. When the Bible refers to our “walk,” it is talking about all of those things that are within the power of our will to change—to bring into subjection to Christ.

Christian ethics has to do with proper conduct, but does not just look at the tip of the iceberg. It addresses the root of sinfulness in our hearts and commands us to bring into the light the hidden things, the deceptions, the masks that we wear to protect ourselves from being found out. The funny thing is, God has already found us out in Christ and accepted us long before we were ready to accept that acceptance and come into the light.

Even after being a Christian for years, we too often resist the light of ethical scrutiny and avoid self-disclosure. Religion, as opposed to godliness, is often a catalyst to such denial and deception, because it holds out strict standards for right conduct without allowing open disclosure of temptation or sin. The Church ought to be a place for saints to learn to talk openly about the sin that continues to dwell in them, despite their best efforts to renounce it. This is the best way to cleanse the heart, which will then prompt pure hearted words and deeds.

Have you ever had a partner you loved that was just not your size? Was his thing too little and was her thing too big? How did you work with it?

WHAT CHICKPEAS CAN DO FOR YOU: READ THE BELOW

Chickpea (scientific name: Cicerarinuml)

Ingredients:

400 gm chickpeas

2 liters water

2 gm cinnamon

2 gm star anise

100 gm fresh ginger (cut into slices)

12 gm curry leaves

22 gm salt

Method:

First, soak chickpeas in water (with 1 tbsp salt) overnight; discard the water the next day.

Pour the right amount of water into a pot; insert cinnamon, star anise and fresh ginger slices into a tea bag; put the tea bag in the pot; add chickpeas, curry leaves and salt.

Bring to a boil over high heat; switch to mild heat and cook until the chickpeas are soft; discard the water and enjoy.

Chickpea:Xinjiang,Chinaproduces large quantities of chickpeas. In Chinese, it is named as ‘hawk’s beak pea’ as the pea looks like a hawk’s beak.

People often use it to treat bronchitis, catarrh, constipation, dysentery, flatulence, pruritus, diabetes, high blood lipids and other diseases. Taking appropriate amount of pressed chickpea oil orally can moisturize one’s skin and throat; while using it externally helps in treating joint pain. It is an excellent food therapy for patients with diabetes, high blood pressure and high blood lipids as it is rich in isoflavones, biochanin plus other active ingredients and dietary fiber which can assist in reducing blood sugar, blood pressure and blood lipid levels. Thus, it is an ideal health food for individuals with weak kidneys and constitution. In addition, chickpeas are also rich in anti-inflammatory functional factors, thus particularly suitable for patients with different acute and chronic inflammation to consume.

Internationally recognized as one of the four longevity areas in the world. Uyghur people’s daily diet consists mainly of beef, mutton, dairy products, high-sugar melons/fruits. Though having such high-fat, high-protein and high-calorie intakes, seldom locals suffer from diabetes and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. After a scientific expedition, World Health Organization discovered that their staple food – hand pilaf was mixed with other food and chickpeas. Chickpea is the key to a balanced diet, hence helping them stay far away from diabetes and ‘three high diseases’.

Sunday, February 24, 2013 | 9:41 AM

WASHINGTON (CMC) – The US Supreme Court has declined to block the deportation of thousands of Caribbean and other immigrants who over two years ago were not warned by their lawyers that, when they pleaded guilty to serious crimes, they would be targeted for deportation. The law calls for mandatory deportation for Caribbean and other immigrants, including lawful permanent residents, who have an “aggravated felony” on their record. In a 7-2 decision, the justices refused to apply the ruling retroactively to cases of immigrants who had unintentionally pleaded guilty before 2010. The ruling came in the case of Roselva Chaidez, a Chicago woman who was born in Mexico and has been a lawful permanent US resident since 1977. Chaidez has three children and two grandchildren, all of whom are US citizens. US prosecutors said that, in 2003, Chaidez agreed to plead guilty to two counts of mail fraud for her minor role in an insurance fraud. According to court documents, Chaidez’s son and several others had staged an auto accident, and that Chaidez received US$1,200 from an insurance company for a false claim of injury. The court sentenced Chaidez to probation and ordered her to repay US$22,000, the total amount of the insurance fraud. Court documents reveal that Chaidez completed her sentence and had paid her restitution by 2004. Chaidez said, when she later applied to become a naturalized US citizen, she denied having been convicted of a crime. But only then, she said she learned that pleading guilty to mail fraud involving more than US$10,000 meant that she was subject to deportation. Charles Roth, a lawyer for the National Immigrant Justice Centre, said “it is now in the hands of the Obama administration and the US Congress to keep this family together, as well as hundreds of others who at least deserve consideration of whether a run-in with the law enforcement more than a decade ago outweighs the good they have since contributed to our society.”

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/US-Supreme-Court-declines-to-block-deportation-of-legal-Caribbean-immigrants

Today would have been the wedding day Dian Dean was anticipating that would have happened with slain cop Kennard Chong. Only now, she will be married to guilt and suspicion with no divorce.
To date, there still has not been a report or statement that should have been taken by the JCF stating exactly what happened at the apartment the evening young police officer Kennard Chong was shot. Upon Ms. Deans arrival at the hospital with a shirtless friend on the day of Kennard’s death, it is alleged that she was told to visit the Matilda’s Corner Police Station for a statement and to have her fingers swabbed. It is still unconfirmed as to whether Ms. Dean’s hands were swabbed or not.
The JCF also to date has not investigated claims that will support or oppose Ms. Deans’ report to the hospital upon dropping Kennard Chong’s body off, that it was indeed a suicide or a homicide. Allegedly the claims made by Ms. Dean are what the JCF has allegedly has used and seemingly will not carry out any further investigations. The police who claim to have statements from Ms. Dean, will not release what was said to them.
A witness at the hospital where Ms. Dean had dropped off Mr. Chong alleges that upon arrival, Ms. Dean was spotted with a shirtless man who had a weapon in his waist. The clothes Mr. Chong had been wearing were not submitted to the police by the hospital but by other top notch police who were allegedly called by Ms. Dean before she had called the young man’s mother. Allegedly the young man’s clothes had been taken by those police men first, then they eventually were turned over to the JCF.

Inside investigations reveal that it was not the first time Kennard Chong had caught Ms. Dean in a compromising position. Reports are that, months before, an apartment that the couple had rented in Manley Meadows almost became a crime scene. Mr. Chong upon arriving at the home, he realised after attempting to open the outside gate of the home realised that the lock had been changed. After knocking for an extended period of time , Chong was said to have heard movement in the home and was prompted to call the police.

Allegedly, Mr. Chong was not the only one who seemed to have called because not only did the regular police show up, members of the Jamaica Flying Squad also showed up claiming to have gotten a call from a person inside the home who claimed that there was a wanted man at the gate. A member of the JCF who had known Chong greeted him and asked him what was going on and quickly radioed all the police in the surrounding area not to shoot as the young man at the address was a police.

Ms. Dean then came out of the apartment with a police man who was allegedly in the apartment with Ms. Dean before Chong had arrived.

The relationship between the couple ended after that run in and the now slain cop was said to have went on to date another young woman. After a few weeks, it is alleged that Chong received a call from Ms. Dean who told him she was pregnant by him. Chong immediately broke up with the young woman he was dating and went back to Dean.
Today, February 24, would have been the date that the couple would have gotten married but Chong who was said to have called off the wedding was suspiciously shot upon arrival at the home he shared with Ms. Dean

ONSTAGETV – ONSTAGE FEB 23 2013 SEGMENT 5 JIMMY CLIFF from ONSTAGE on Vimeo.