We might never want correction, but when do we need it?

Every day we’re asking four questions about part of the Bible. Today Bern Leckie answers:

What did I like about today’s passage?

Happy Monday, everyone! Did you have fun reading this? I know I didn’t.

Imagine all we know about God is in this passage. Let’s say we have no sense of the bigger journey, the love and grace God gives to bless people and the hope still offered in painful times. Maybe we’ve never heard of the huge, life-changing relief of a promised saviour ahead. Would this God be someone you might be interested in spending time with?

I’m going to guess not, but maybe you could be persuaded, especially by the middle of chapter 22. God has clearly seen a lot of injustice among his people. Most, if not all, of this would be stuff you would agree was wrong, as long as correcting it was about fixing other people’s faults.

So I think that’s part of the problem when we read about God’s judgement. We’d like to see it, but can’t bear to face it or accept that we should. Do we want the world to be better for poor people? Yes! Will we accept responsibility for profiting from them and extorting unjust gain from our neighbours? That’s much harder. Aren’t we doing the right thing when get on with business and try our best not to hurt others? That depends. How can we know?

I don’t think we can take in what God wants without the bigger picture, so we can know and share his aims and find hope and the ability to change. We still might not want to be corrected, because being told we’re wrong or forced to do something differently is always painful. This passage isn’t here to get us to warm to the idea of God’s judgement. But if we overlook it, we might miss some of the urgency God wants us to carry of a need to change.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God wants people to live good quality lives, measurable not through personal feelings as much as what happens in the ways we treat each other. When this is going badly, God needs to correct us. In Israel’s case, there was a massive national correction through exile and later renewal. God gave Israel as a light to the world so, learning from this example, we can probably conclude that God wants us to live more justly too, and to ask for his help in this.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I’m struck by two strongly opposing attitudes in politics at the moment. On one hand, major progressive movements are emerging, pushing for change to fix injustices and make our behaviour more considerate and sustainable. On the other, many conservatives (including leaders in the UK and US) resist accepting a need for rethinking and correction.

I lean towards progressive, but I want more wisdom from God so that I’m not judging who to support based on stuff I want, but learning what kind of changes God wants. I pray for my wants to become aligned with what God wants! But I accept that he needs to correct me too.

Who am I going to share this with?

Seems like time to check in with friends in Extinction Rebellion and see what meaningful things we can do at school to affirm that Black Lives Matter. Praying with believers is key, and I want to pray that we can find real change through Jesus rather than human struggle alone.