The apostle Paul closes his first letter to the Church at Thessalonica with these words: “may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. “ (1 Thess 5.23).
Reading the instructions in Leviticus is not the easier way to start your day. Often, we are left wondering the point of all the detail. For example, an Israelite who found a stain in his leather garment was required to take it to be examined by the priest (Leviticus 13). It has dawned on me that these instructions were designed to ensure the people of God, the children of Israel, were kept holy and ‘clean’ in the land that God had given them. God was preserving them, spirit and soul and body.
It was not only a question of which of the Ten Commandments someone might breach. It is a much broader question, concerning physical health and mental well-being as well as living righteously.
How does this translate into instructions for a Christian seeking to live by NT instructions? Is there any correlation between me taking my leather tunic to the priest, having found a stain in it and how much I use social media, or what I spend my money on? I believe there is.
The NT contains statements like this:
- “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters” (Rom 14.1).
- “Everything is permissible for me – but not everything is beneficial: (! Cor 6.12).
- “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise, but as wise” (Eph 5.15).
- “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.” (Titus 1.15).
These statements (and there are many similar) do not seek to provide a checklist of ‘do’s and ‘don’t’s. Far from it, they paint a way of life for the Christ-follower.
The Ephesians verse puts me in mind of a cat, walking along a wall with glass fixed in its top. ‘walk circumspectly,’ is how one version puts this verse. Bible writers in both the Old and New Testaments are concerned to free us from legalistic commitment to a fixed set of instructions. Paul makes clear that he is declaring a ‘way of life’ in Christ Jesus. By walking in this ‘way of life,’ our spirit and soul and body can be preserved blameless for Christ’s return.
The writer of Leviticus comments that this holiness is a matter of co-operation between God and His people: “You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own” (Lev 20.26). The Lord Himself makes us holy. Yet we are commanded to be holy.
The same constructive tension runs through the New Testament. (That is for another day.)
Coming to some application. How do we walk wisely?
- Firstly, how I live will be different to how others live, and vice versa. We are to avoid judging a Christian who, applying the same Scriptures, finds a different conclusion. One may enjoy drinking alcohol; another may abstain. Neither should judge the other.
- Secondly, the issues are enormously varied, with time, with culture, with our personal circumstances. Scripture gives us the principles and examples, pre-eminently of Jesus Christ Himself. He navigated the world of the first century Roman-occupied Judea with total integrity.
- Thirdly in the Levitical instructions, it was the priest who declared a person clean or unclean. The priest pictures the individual Christian as well as Christ. Personal conscience, made alive by the Spirit of God, is an essential guide to what is ‘beneficial.’
I have heard sermons criticising Christians for using social media, for watching television, for playing sport. Such criticise is unhelpful, in part because the issues are more nuanced. This is where we need to have minds and hearts full of scripture and sensitive to the Spirit.
On the specific subject of social media (and these comments might be applied to other matters):
- Some Christians need to switch off their social media. It leads them into damaging relationships and exposes them to unhelpful content. Like Joseph, tempted by Potiphar’s wife, the only response is to flee.
- Some Christians work as evangelists to our digital world. They need to understand the world of social media, so they can be effective and fruitful in their ministry. Like the apostle Paul in Athens, they look for elements within their culture to preach Christ.
- Many of us are somewhere in between. Social media might be a part of our employment. We might join Facebooks groups to support others with shared interests. We need to learn to use it wisely. We must learn to control it, and not let it control us.