...Who knowing the righteous judgement of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those practice those things.
-Romans 1:32The book of Romans, and the whole Bible for that matter, are very clear on God's judgement of sin and how a Christian should [and should not] live their life. In fact, the verses preceding the above verse from Romans 1 mentions a few of the things that we shouldn't be: unrighteous, wicked, covetous, malicious, envious, murderous, deceitful, gossipers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, unloving, unforgiving, and unmerciful. [from verses 29-30] No one can claim to be perfect in all of these areas. God hasn't even called us to do that, but we should recognize that acting like that is wrong.
I found it interesting that God would put a verse like Romans 1:32 after that long list. To me it was a reminder of what God is all about: our heart and attitudes. When Jesus came to earth, it was a person's heart that mattered to him. He saw the Pharisees were acting righteous and followed the law, but in his eyes, they still had missed the point because he could see that their hearts weren't in it. In the same way, it is easy for us to get caught up in making sure the we are doing good and acting like 'perfect' Christians. But how many times do we approve of the things that we don't do? How many times do we decide that we won't participate, but we'll stand by and watch?
By standing by and doing nothing are we just as guilty?
Many of you may have watched the Vice Presidential debate between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden. I thought the question about religion [that eventually led to a discussion about abortion] was very interesting. Both candidates are Catholic and both had the same view on abortion. However, Joe Biden's stance was different in that he said something like he wouldn't 'force his beliefs on others' and therefore wouldn't support anti-abortion legislation. When he said that, I sat back and thought about it. It's a very real dilemma for some religious politicians and voters. Eventually my thoughts reached the question, "But if we don't stand up for what we believe in, then why do we believe in it?" Because if we think it's a big enough issue to hold weight in our convictions then we definitely need to act on it. To do anything else sounds too much like hypocrisy to me. And [I have to be careful here], but what's wrong with 'imposing' beliefs on someone if it's true? [if it's even imposing on them]
God has not commanded us to just obey what he has called us to do, but to do it with our whole heart. God will not only judge by the things that we have done but by what we truly and actually felt about those things.
It really comes down to the question of whether or not we're truly obeying him from our hearts or out of a desire to appear perfect.
Bonhoeffer wrote: "The war of Jesus Christ against the gods of this world... is a war that demands the commitment of one's whole life. Is not God, our Lord worthy of this struggle?" God doesn't just want our actions, he actually wants our heart. If we're approving of evil while abstaining from it, we're not serving him with our hearts.
Just a last thought: I think that we have to be very careful in the way that we interpret this verse because people could take it to imply something that is against God's character, namely being judgmental of others. I believe God simply meant is as warning to people, like the Pharisees, who are doing good but aren't totally surrendered to God. God alone is to judge people, that is not our place. We cannot see what God can: people's hearts.
Thanks for reading!
Meaghan
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