Philippians (reread)

Chapter 1

These are interesting thoughts from Pail about being imprison and awaiting his fate.   They are honest and raw self-reflection.

It somewhat reminds me of Ecclesiates or the Psalms in that we get an honest look inside the mind of a major Biblic character.  But Paul is beyond my sort of doubt, he seems quite happy.

2:13 

This stands out to me as a clear expression of free will vis a vis a relationship with an all-powerful God (3:21).

3:20 - our citizenship is in heaven
My childhood church would take statements like that to an extreme conclusion, far beyond a reasonable reading of the verse.

The logic went as follows:  If a Christian's citizenship is in heaven, then it is not in the United States, or any earthly government.  Therefore, a Christian should not actively take part of citizenship of the United States.  The church discouraged voting in government elections and possibly even jury service.

It heavily discouraged military service, but the rationale also conflated with general wartime pacifism.  Wartime pacifism is found in a lot of other churches for similar rationales.

Looking back, I think there is a temptation for Christian communities to make extra, superfluous rules.  The temptation is as old as the time of Christ, if we consider the Pharisee's rules on hand-washing and Sabbath observance.  Later, the Apostles struggled and disagreed with each other regarding circumcision and eating food offered before idols.

Nonetheless, I believe the temptation to codify tradition into community rules remains today.  

For example, at JMU, I was meeting someone at IV for a meal.  The JMU IV tradition - which is a common practice - is to pray before eating.  The guy told me off for not waiting for him to eat so we could pray for the meal together.  I sat in stunned silence, but thought, "you're an effing idiot".

But the mentality of turning tradition into Christian rules and expectations is much broader.  I see it when Christians get mad about Creationism v. Evolution, voting for Republican, or even saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas".

I think the greater point of Philippians speaks to this.  Paul encourages us to get along with each other.  For after all, our citizenship is in heaven.  So, if our citizenship is in heaven, why be upset if Obama gets his Obamacare, someone says 'Happy Holidays', or someone does not want to pray before eating.

Side note - I still don't pray before eating, but that's because I have seen it used in the wrong way too many times.  My childhood church turned it into a mindless ritual.  Then at JMU, I saw it used as a divisive ritual.