Perspectives

Do Thou Set It Aright

We’re not promised simple answers to our questions, but rather a Father who can handle our mistakes

The young Christian walked into the bustling bazaar of Corinth. The sights and sounds and smells of that marketplace were all too familiar to him, but it felt just a little different now. His heart had been turned by the gospel. He was now a part of this young church in Corinth. There were so many questions now? As he walked through, he saw a good sale on some beef. But this wasn’t just any beef, it was the leftovers of the sacrificial beef. He knew what that beef was used for; he used to be a part of that sacrificial system to those Corinthian gods. Was he supposed to buy the meat or not? Could he still eat it like he had done so many times before? In his own mind, he had settled the matter. It was just beef.

But as he thought about it some more, he couldn’t help but think of his family. Were they just as settled about the matter as he was? How would they react to him bringing home that same beef that he had brought home so many times before? They were new to this whole Christian thing, too.

I don’t know if this man was a real man but I know the situation in 1 Corinthians 10 was a real issue for young Christians in Corinth. The question was simple: “What are we supposed to do?” The answer was much more complex: “Well, that depends.” What an unsatisfying answer for a Christian. Just give us the answer! Give us the “how to” and the “what now.”

For this imaginary Christian in Corinth, the answer was complex because it depended on what served his neighbor best. Read through 1 Corinthians 10:14-33. Try to understand the real struggle for the Christian. The Biblical truths were clear. The application was more complex. Do you see the words? “I have the right to do anything – but not everything is beneficial, not everything is constructive.” He goes on, “Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience…” (1 Corinthians 10:25). And that comes right after Paul says, “No one should seek their own good, but the good of others” (1 Corinthians 10:24). “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved” (1 Corinthians 10:31-33). Do you notice the emphasis? The emphasis is on Paul’s neighbor—serving them to the glory of God.

There are a lot of questions asked regarding LGBTQ matters that we want simple and straightforward answers to. Questions about pronouns. Questions about relationships. Questions about weddings, clothes, language. Questions about ourselves. We want the “how to” and the “what now” answers and we want those answers to fit nicely into every single scenario we could concoct. We want to know how to approach our neighbor, friend, loved one with a message of love and grace, with the truth of God’s Word. Like the Corinthian Christian in the marketplace, we want a simple answer to a simple question. But maybe like the Corinthian in the meat market, the answer may be more complex because the answer depends on the needs of your neighbor.

This is what makes us all ongoing students of the Bible, right? God’s Word never changes, but we do, our neighbor does, and our culture does. The spaces in which we interact with the truths of God’s Word change not because God’s Word changed but because we changed. We are struggling with things in our personal lives that don’t always fit neatly into a diagnostic box, and sometimes we don’t know what to do with that because we can’t find the chapter and verse in the Bible that directly speaks to our unique situations.

So, we place ourselves where we belong, back at the foot of the cross and with our noses in the very words that God gave to us. We search and we learn as we plumb the depths of the Scriptures to see how God’s Word reads us once again. How does that help us as we navigate our way through the Corinthian marketplace? It equips us to do the best we can as we are freed to see our neighbor and assess their needs in the moment in time that God has placed us into their life.

The Lutheran Agenda, produced with the Lutheran Hymnal of 1941, has a prayer called “The Pastor’s Daily Prayer.” In the prayer are written these words:

Give me Thy Holy Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge, of grace and prayer, of power and strength, of courage and joyfulness, of sanctification and the fear of God. Fill me with the right knowledge, and open my lips that my mouth may proclaim the honor of Thy name. Fill my heart with a passion for souls and with skillfulness to give unto each and every sheep or lamb entrusted to my care what is due unto it at the proper time. Give me at all times sound advice and just works; and wherever I overlook something or in the weakness of my flesh speak or act wrongly, do Thou set it aright, and help that no one may through me suffer harm to his soul.

Isn’t this where we want to be as we ask simple questions knowing that the answers are complex? We pray that we would continue to be students of his Word and then approach our neighbor with what they need at that time. And at times, we will make the wrong decisions about how to answer the questions we have. Sometimes we will make the wrong decisions about how we approach each other in conversation. Sometimes we will make the wrong decisions about what our neighbor needs at a given time. But whether we speak or act rightly or wrongly, whether we apply God’s Word rightly or wrongly, we place our interactions, our conversations, our intentions, yes our very selves at the foot of the cross and pray, “Lord, I did the best I could for the neighbor you gave me. Now, have mercy on me. Have mercy on my neighbor. Make right what I make wrong.”

Let’s grant each other grace as we navigate seemingly simple questions with complex answers and let us together—no matter what today’s struggle or difficulty or challenge or question—let us together pray “Lord, have mercy.”