“And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman…” John 4:27 (NKJV)
In contrast to the culture of His day, Jesus sought and valued the con-
tributions of women. Sabbath School Quarterly, p55
Jesus was counter cultural in His interaction with women. But not just women, but all other classes that were considered of a lower class, including tax collectors, lepers etc.
These actions were borne out of His fundamental respect for every human, after all He is the creator of all…!
Do you think that Jesus would be counter cultural today in any regard? I think of how he might have treated refugees and illegal immigrants today, how He would show respect for those with little social grace and tact. How about His ability to call sin by it’s right name, even while dealing tactfully with those who he was directing his comments? All of these actions would be not be the ‘done thing’ in various circles today.
This week we will be looking in more detail at the following two topics. Click on the links below to get into the discussion…
e-Sabbath School 
Philip Yancey in his book The Bible Jesus Read quotes an author named Thomas Cahill who wrote the book The Gifts of the Jews. He says that without the Jews,
“… we would never have known the abolitionist movement, the prison reform movement, the anti-war movement, the labour movement, the civil rights movement, the movement of indigenous and dispossessed peoples for their human rights, the antiapartheid movement in Sth Africa, the Solidarity movement in Poland, the free-speech and pro-democracy movements in such Far Eastern countries such as Sth Korea, the Phillipines and even China.”
I guess that through the Old Testament history and then Jesus in the New Testament (who lived the instructions handed down in the Old Testament) we are provided with the example of enacting Justice in the world. Jesus would no doubt be counter cultural. There are many injustices that we carry out in the name of national security for example that just don’t live up to the example we have been given by God and in essence, the Ten Commandments. In the Old Testament God came down very hard on nations that didn’t do the right thing by others and how they gloated in the misfortunes of other nations (e.g. Edom and the Jews).
How do we do the right thing (so to speak) but also have healthy boundaries around our nations and protect ourselves from the odd random terrorists and the like? Are we expected to just copp it on the chin and be passive?
Caz
Yes the Bible makes some important messages about social justice. God rails against the apostate and corrupt Israelite nation in the book of Amos:
“You wicked people! You twist justice, making it a bitter pill for the poor and oppressed. Righteousness and fair play are meaningless fictions to you.” Amos 5:7 (NLT)
In the New Testament we have James saying:
“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, [and] to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27 (NKJV)
On your last point, I think that acts of defence are reasonable although I’m still balancing that thought up with Jesus’ ‘turn the other cheek’ philosophy.
Any action needs to be carried out in the context of Jesus’ core teaching of ‘love for enemies’, ‘do good to those who hate you’ and the forementioned ‘turn the other cheek’. We should never act (in a personal or national sense) out of revenge or to achieve an improved position.
Craig